Lee argues that adapting, or rather not adapting, to the weather has changed the outcome of war from ancient times to present day. Short essays are gathered in this easy-to-read book that sets out to prove that we have less control over events than we'd like to think.
Before 1997 only meteorologists, fishermen and weather buffs knew about the force of an El Niño. Tiny temperature fluctuations in the Pacific, however, can create weather systems powerful enough to wreck havoc in everyday lives. In 1997 the most powerful El Niño caused freezes in Europe, blizzards and floods in North America and deadly droughts in the South Pacific. Think a weather system doesn't change history? Think again.
Weather forecasting and its implications on global relations change forever after the 1900 hurricane that levels the town and kills 6,000 in Galveston.
In May of 1999 a series of 71 tornadoes ripped through Oklahoma and included a mile-wide F5 tornado complete with the fastest wind speeds ever recorded on the surface of the earth. Mathis, a native Sooner, provides an insiders guide into tornadoes and their impact both regionally and widespread.
Brinkley, a Tulane professor, recounts the circumstances surrounding both the ill planning and botched rescue efforts of Hurricane Katrina. Disaster is tempered with stories of personal heroism and survival.
Heavy rainfall and the collapse of a dam ravaged Johnstown, Pennsylvania in 1889. Master historian McCullough adeptly combines the stories of the town, the wealthy men who owned the dam, and the forces of nature into a seamless whole. The rescue effort was handled for the first time by the Red Cross, led by Clara Barton.
A hurricane off Bermuda, a cold front coming down from the Canadian Shield, and a storm brewing over the Great Lakes proves too much for the fishing boat, Andrea Gale, and her crew in the fall of 1991.
On April 14, 1935, the biggest dust storm on record descended over five states, from the Dakotas to Amarillo, Texas. While magnified by meteorological impacts, these "black blizzards" were man-made.