The Coming Storm: The True Causes of Freak Weather-And Why It's Going to Get Worse - Softcover

Maslin, Mark

9780764122194: The Coming Storm: The True Causes of Freak Weather-And Why It's Going to Get Worse

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0764122193 ISBN 13: 9780764122194

Publisher: B E S Pub Co, 2005

Why is our climate so turbulent—and why does our weather appear to be getting worse? What exactly is the El Nino and what are its consequences? How serious is the global warming trend, and can it be reversed? These and many related questions are discussed in this account of recent floods and droughts, catastrophic forest fires, an epidemic of unusually violent hurricanes, and rising sea levels created by the melting polar ice caps. An authority on violent weather patterns explains these phenomena and much more. He also describes different storm types, including hurricanes, tornadoes, blizzards, and monsoons. An enlightening chapter helps readers understand scientific methods of measuring the weather and predicting storms. There are also accounts of freak storms, methods of rescuing storm victims, and lesser-known environmental problems such as the threat posed by gas hydrates, which could contribute to a runaway global greenhouse effect. An absorbing text is supplemented with more than 200 dramatic photos and illustrations.

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From the Back Cover:

The worst flooding on record, droughts, catastrophic forest fires, an epidemic of violent hurricanes, and rising sea levels from the melting of the polar icecaps—the 21st century is a stormy and dangerous time to live.

Why is our climate so turbulent?

What can we do to predict and prevent the ravages of these extreme weather phenomena?

What exactly is the El Ni�o effect, and what are its consequences? Can it get any worse?As we face a future in which the effects of global warming are certain to increase climatic instability, these are just a few of the urgent questions that need answers. The Coming Storm, written by a leading authority on global disasters, provides them.

Storms are the violent expression of our climate system, driven by the need to export heat from the hot tropics to the cold poles. Blizzards pound the northern parts of Europe and the United States while hurricanes hurtle across the tropical oceans and tornadoes spin violently over the continents. No place is safe from the effects of storms and, thanks to global warming, things are about to get a whole lot worse.

The Coming Storm provides a unique, accessible, and comprehensive account of the dramatic effects of global warming around the world. Illustrated with full-color photography and diagrams, it analyzes the causes of storms and tells why they are so destructive. It also documents the freak weather and mega-storms of recent decades, draws our attention to the precarious state of our world today, and explains why things are set to get worse. Finally, it discusses the measures that could and should be taken to mitigate the damage and loss of life these future disastrous storms will cause and slow down its gradual erosion of our planet before it?s too late.

About the Author:

Mark Maslin is a lecturer in geology and paleoclimatology at the Environmental Change Research Center, University College, London. He also teaches on British TV's BBC Open University and has written several books on the instability of the Earth's climate. As a member of several international environmental groups, he has traveled from the Amazon to the Azores via Bermuda and Greenland.

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