Through memorable photos, informative graphics and maps and gripping minute-by-minute accounts, readers can relive the momentous year of 2012, as reported by TIME's worldwide staff of journalists and photographers.

In March 2011 the eyes of the world turned to the Pacific, where an earthquake and tsunami devastated cities along Japan's northern coasts only weeks after a major earthquake caused billions of dollars in damages in Christchurch, New Zealand. At the same time, Haiti was still reeling from the January 2010 earthquake that killed more than 300,000 people and the airline industry was still recovering from the 2010 eruption of a volcano in Iceland that sent clouds of ash billowing across Europe, disrupting global air travel for weeks. Now TIME explores the science behind the powerful forces that create such natural disasters in an updated edition of its classic 2006 volume Nature's Extremes. Here are the tectonic forces that breed earthquakes, volcanoes and tsunamis... the powerful weather patterns that create deadly hurricanes, tornadoes and wildfires... and a host of other natural nightmares, from deadly mudslides to avalanches, solar flares to dust storms. Filled with galleries of fascinating, sometimes mind-boggling, photographs and featuring the informative graphics that are a hallmark of the magazine, Nature's Extremes documents the destructive power of nature at its most deadly. It is a must-read for anyone concerned with the future of our planet. TIME will donate a portion of the proceeds from this volume to organizations working to aid victims of Japan's 2011 earthquake and tsunami.

The editors of TIME magazine select the 100 events that have shaped civilization, and take readers on an illustrated journey through history's most important events and people.