Green Fade:
This is typical of new pads. The lighter compounds of the binders will volatilize and form a "gas bearing" between the pads and rotor. When green fade happens, the pedal is typically still solid. As the driver begins to panic and tries to push the brake pedal through the floor, the car just barely slows down.
Cross drilled or grooved rotors are attempts to prevent this problem. Some pads come pre-baked or burnished to try and remove these volatile compounds. I'm not sure how effective it is. After you've suffered green fade once or twice, it is usually done for the life of the pads.
Boiling Fluid:
This happens when the fluid in the calipers gets hot enough to boil. When you step on the brakes, the pedal goes all the way to the floor. You think, "This can't be good" as you pump wildly to generate some pressure at the calipers. Gasses really do compress more easily than fluids.
There are a few things you can do to prevent this. First, use fresh brake fluid. Street cars should be bled one a year and track cars should be bled before every event. As fluid ages, it absorbs moisture from the air, which lowers its boiling point. This means the you'll want to use a brand new sealed can of fluid no more than a few days before a track event.
Next, not all brake fluid is created equal. Some have a higher boiling point than others. For a street car, I like Castrol LMA since its boiling point is fairly high and it is less affected by moisture. Ford heavy duty fluid is acceptable too. For a track car, I like Motul 600 since its boiling point (574° F dry/ 421° F wet) is about as high as you can get for a reasonable price. AP550 and Performance Friction's new fluid are also quite good. If you've really gone off the edge, you can try Castrol SRF but it's about $70/liter.
If that still isn't enough, it's time to add some cooling to the brakes. Either add brake ducts to channel air or get wheels that allow more hot air to escape. The brake ducts need to deliver the air as close to the center of the brake rotor as possible. This isn't easy with the steering arms and such getting in the way. A little ingenuity will be required to get it to work properly but it's well worth the effort.
Spongy brakes from outgasing fluid:
Most (all?) brake fluid will dissolve small amounts of N2 and CO2 from the air. When subjected to repeated heat and pressure cycles, these gasses will come out of solution forming tiny gas bubbles. This manifests itself in a spongy pedal. This will cure itself somewhat when the brakes cool and the gasses redissolve. My friend, who races motorcycles, ties his brake handle down overnight to force these bubbles back into solution. It's only mildly effective. Bleeding is a better fix.
Over heating pad compound:
This is probably the most common form of brake fade. The Coefficient of Friction (Cf) of the pads will vary with temperature. As you exceed the max. temperature, the Cf falls off dramatically. Again, push hard and hope the car slows enough.
Here again, cooling ducts can help somewhat. Chosing pad compounds that will still work at high temperatures is also effective. The trouble is that they tend to be rather expensive and don't work well at normal street car temperatures. In fact, many Carbon/Kevlar compounds will absolutely chew up rotors at cooler temperatures. That's the price you pay for their wonderful characteristics at high temperatures.
Wearing through pads until your caliper pistons come out of their bores:
A friend experimented with this a few years ago at Laguna Seca. I hear it's no fun. He had no front brakes to speak of and went spinning off into a gravel trap. It was only through some very quick thinking that he kept from totalling his car. When driving on a race track, you need to check your pads before every session.