What natural phenomenom, an act of nature, kills more people yearly than any other? What is second?

I'm going to go with lightning first and snakes second; no source, I just remember this from someplace; (keep your thumb to yourself!)

Sorry, SR, but your answer of lightning is wrong. (Insert digit of your choice here) You may be right about snakes, but I wasn't thinking of animal attacks when I wrote the question. However, I know that, in Africa, another animal is responsible for more deaths. I will look into animal attacks.

I will axniously be awaiting the correct answer and source; (all "digits" aside!) However, with the weather you guys have been having, "it's not nice to fool Mother Nature"

I was thinking Floods myself

Sher, you have the answer to #1 that I was looking for. Good job! When we get the second one, I will post the sources. I am still looking for figures on animal attacks, but that isn't what I wanted. I meant things that are generally termed natural disasters. I am sorry that I wasn't clear in the question.

Well, my second guess would be earthquakes. I've also seen high numbers of deaths related to fires. But I don't know if you term that as "natural" disaster.

What about the natural spreading and/or contraction of disease by humans? Does that count as a 'natural phenomenon'? If it's not that, I'd guess earthquakes..

Earthquakes is not the second answer I was looking for, nor is any bacteria, virus, or any animal attack. I am still looking into animal attacks, but if we count animals, then surely we must count bacteria and viruses, and one or the other would definitely be #1.

The only other thing I'm thinking are tornados.. however, I'm not sure how often they occur in other parts of the world.

I still think that disease is the number one killer... maybe more than floods even? But, given the perspective of your question - and the intended answer(s).. obviously that's not right.

Let's go for drought. Hot weather can kill anyway; a heatwave killed many thousands in France last year; but long uninterrupted periods of dry weather will assuredly kill hundreds of thousands, even millions, by destroying crops, animals as well as the people dependent on them and may do so, by starvation, even when the humans have just water enough for themselves .

By the way, it's the 'slow', aquatic, mud-loving, vegetarian hippopotamus that is the animal that kills the most people in Africa, or at least in the Eastern part of it. The danger is mainly at dusk when the animals come out of the water to graze. They are fiercely protective of their young and fast movers too. Anyone who gets inadvertently between an adult and a youngster, or who is seen as any threat, is likely to be killed. Their jaws are effective weapons.The animal is a particular danger to tourists; very few would think twice of approaching a herd of such 'gentle' animals grazing nearby, whereas the crocodile, the bull elephant and the, rather unthreatening, lion inspire fear.