The news today is full of disasters. A disaster is anything bad that happens and causes major suffering or loss. It can refer to something natural, such as an avalanche, or something manmade, such as a plane crash caused by pilot error. The word disaster comes from the Latin words dis (bad) and aster (star). In the Middle Ages, disasters such as floods or fires were blamed on the misalignment of the planets. Ironically, these days, many environmental disasters are considered to be manmade.