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Lake Nyos, Cameroon - The reason the lake is so deadly is due to the volcanic activity hidden beneath its surface. Magma underneath the lake releases carbon dioxide, which slowly filters up through the water.

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Lake Nyos, Cameroon - This seemingly-nondescript lake in Cameroon was the site of a horrific natural disaster in 1986, which resulted in the death of over 1,700 people.

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Lake Nyos, Cameroon - It is suspected that a landslide or an earthquake triggered the sudden release of a fatal cloud of carbon dioxide, which descended upon the local region and asphyxiated its inhabitants. Measures are now in place to prevent such a disaster from happening again.

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Vanuatu, South Pacific - Vanuatu may look like paradise, but it hides some deadly secrets.

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Vanuatu, South Pacific - The tiny island nation is considered to be one of the most at-risk areas for natural disasters in the world.

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Vanuatu, South Pacific -

Its population is regularly hit by earthquakes, storms, volcanic eruptions, and tsunamis. The fact that the islands are so small is also significant, as it means these natural disasters have wider-reaching effects.

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Danakil Desert, Ethiopia - It may look like another planet, but the Danakil Desert is actually in Ethiopia, with parts in Eritrea and Djibouti.

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Danakil desert, Ethiopia -

It's one of the hottest and most inhospitable places in the world, with volcanoes, lava lakes, deadly hot springs and geysers blowing steaming hot water out of the ground.

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Danakil Desert, Ethiopia - Though it may seem like a hellish place to live, it is inhabited by people who mine the otherworldly landscape for salt.

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Fukushima, Japan - Everyone knows Fukushima in Japan. The nuclear reactor there was damaged during the catastrophic earthquake that hit the region in March 2011.

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Fukushima, Japan - It was the ensuing tsunami, which sent a huge wave over 12 m (40 ft) high towards the power station, that resulted in a core meltdown. 120,000 people in the surrounding region had to be evacuated just because of the threat of radiation.

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Fukushima, Japan - Today there is still an exclusion zone around the site of the disaster, and in July 2018, radiation levels inside the power plant were determined to be still too high for people to enter.

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Aral Sea, Central Asia - The haunting Aral Sea lies between Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

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Aral Sea, Central Asia - Once a vast lake, the Aral Sea has been rapidly drying up since the 1960s, after Soviet irrigation projects diverted the water. The result was one of the biggest ecological disasters of recent times.

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Aral Sea, Central Asia - What's more, pesticides and other agricultural chemicals from the surrounding land contaminated the lake. Once the lake dried up, polluted dust particles became a health hazard for all the nearby inhabitants.

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Vozrozhdeniya Island, Aral Sea - Within the Aral Sea itself lies an even deadlier location. Vozrozhdeniya Island in the middle of the lake was used by the Soviet Union to test biological weapons.

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Vozrozhdeniya Island, Aral Sea - There were a series of accidents while the base was still operational. In one, multiple people died after the accidental release of weaponized smallpox.

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Vozrozhdeniya Island, Aral Sea - A number of bioweapons were reportedly stored there, including anthrax spores and the bubonic plague. After the island was evacuated, the containers began to deteriorate.

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Norilsk, Russia - Norilsk in Russia is the world's most northernmost city, and according to some, also the world's most-polluted.

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Norilsk, Russia - The smelting of nickel ore is what causes the horrific pollution in this toxic city, releasing vast quantities of harmful gases into the air, which causes acid rain and smog.

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Norilsk, Russia - Norlisk is home to 177,000 people, and has an average life expectancy that is 10 years shorter than the rest of the Russian population.

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Lake Natron, Tanzania -

This lake in East Africa looks like it should really be on Mars.

Its water is filled with minerals, and the high evaporation rate means that it is extremely alkaline. It is fed by natural hot springs, which mean that the water can reach up to 60°C (140ºF).

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Lake Natron, Tanzania - For humans and animals that are not evolved to deal with such inhospitable conditions, the water can burn the skin. The natural chemicals in the water can also mummify creatures which die on the lake, leaving eerie petrified fossils.

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Skeleton Coast, Namibia - The Skeleton Coast is the name used to describe a large part of the northern shoreline of Namibia. In the past, it was also called "the gates to hell" by Portuguese sailors.

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Skeleton Coast, Namibia - What is it about the Namibian coast that makes it so deadly? A fierce combination of rough surf, sea fog, and onshore wind meant that it was possible to land on the beach, but not to launch again.

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Skeleton Coast, Namibia - Sailors who found themselves shipwrecked on this desolate stretch of coastline would then be faced with a punishing arid landscape of seemingly-endless sand dunes.

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Centralia, USA -

Today Centralia, Pennsylvania, is practically a ghost town, after suffering from a serious catastrophe in 1962. A landfill fire spread into the coal mines beneath the town. Attempts to suppress the fire failed, and it continued to burn unnoticed until the 1980s.

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Centralia, USA - Sink holes expelling hot toxic plumes of carbon dioxide began to open up all over the town, which then led to the forced eviction of almost all of its inhabitants. There is estimated to be enough coal for the fire to burn for another 250 years.

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Pripyat, Ukraine - The Chernobyl disaster is considered to be the most catastrophic nuclear accident in history.

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Pripyat, Ukraine - A meltdown in the nuclear reactor in Chernobyl in 1986 meant that the neighboring town of Pripyat had to be evacuated immediately.

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Pripyat, Ukraine - Even today, high levels of radiation mean that the town is uninhabitable, and can only be visited for short periods of time.

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Death Valley, USA - The morbidly named Death Valley in California is famous for its incredibly inhospitable characteristics.

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Death Valley, USA - The desert valley holds the record for the highest recorded temperature in the world.

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Death Valley, USA - Temperatures frequently supersede 50°C (122ºF) in the summer, and the aptly-named Furnace Creek holds the record for the highest recorded air temperature at a staggering 56.7°C (134ºF).

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Dzerzhinsk, Russia - Dzerzhinsk is a city 400 km (248 miles) from Moscow, which is frequently described as one of the most polluted in the world.

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Dzerzhinsk, Russia - Chemical and biological production during the Soviet era resulted in wide-scale pollution in Dzerzhinsk and the surrounding area. According to some sources, the local population has a life expectancy of just 47 years.

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Dzerzhinsk, Russia -

A nearby lake is known as the "black hole," and is one of the most polluted bodies of water in the world. Considerable amounts of chemical waste were dumped there, and merely being in its vicinity is harmful to your health.

See also: How wild was the Wild West, really?

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