"The Greatest Disasters in Earth's History" — Lecture by Paleontologist Yaroslav Popov

An asteroid impact that wiped out the dinosaurs.
The Toba eruption that nearly drove humanity to extinction.
The collision with the protoplanet Theia that gave birth to the Moon.
The global glaciation that turned Earth into a snowball.

All of this may sound like science fiction — but it really happened.
And each of these events left a lasting mark, reshaping our planet and its life for millions of years.

What were the greatest disasters Earth has ever seen?
How do paleontologists and geologists uncover traces of ancient cataclysms?
What connects the Permian and Triassic extinctions?
Could a supervolcano once again plunge the world into an “age of darkness”?
How many times has humanity stood on the brink — and what lies ahead?

Let’s look deep into the past to understand: disasters aren’t exceptions, they are the very engine of Earth’s history.