Nature’s most dangerous places

If you were compiling a list of the world’s most dangerous places to live, war-torn regions like Iraq, Afghanistan and the Gaza Strip would come pretty close to the top.

But there are a host of other locations that are dangerous for altogether different reasons. They may sit in the shadow of a still active volcano, for example, or totter precariously on the join of unstable tectonic plates. They may be places that are already starting to suffer from the first disastrous consequences of climate change, or they may be first in the firing line when things really start to heat up.

Yes, these are the hotspots of the natural world, as potentially dangerous for human habitation as any of those besieged by tanks and troops. But people still live there -  often because they have no choice, but sometimes even when they do.

Here’s our rundown of some of the places most at threat from the environment that surrounds them, and the people that make nature’s hotspots their home.