Storm World, Chris Mooney
Storm World, Chris Mooney
List: $19.99 | Sale: $13.99
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Storm World
Hurricanes, Politics, and the Battle Over Global Warming

Author: Chris Mooney

Narrator: Lloyd James

Unabridged: 10 hr 37 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 08/27/2007


Synopsis

Chris Mooney, author of The Republican War on Science and one of the leading young environmental journalists and bloggers working today, immerses readers in the world of those who study hurricanes. What was once an arcane branch of meteorology (itself an arcane science) has become embroiled in one of the most politicized and hotly contested debates in American science: whether or not the recent hurricane disasters—culminating in Katrina—are connected to global warming.

Mooney follows the lives and careers of the two leading scientists who stand, bitterly opposed, on either side of the issue. One believes that global warming has nothing to do with hurricane ferocity or frequency; the other believes as fervently that it does; both have staked their reputations on their respective positions. Mooney shows these two men in action as they debate the issue across the country and are followed by the media. He also uses them as a way of showing how hurricane studies have evolved and how government, the media, Big Business, and politics have affected the ways we study and interpret weather patterns. Hurricanes are natural disasters, capable of inflicting almost unimaginable destruction. The culture that has grown up around predicting, charting, and even defining them is very much man-made.

Combining lively portraits of the leading figures, vivid science journalism, and the very latest reportage from the weather front (the last section of the book will cover the 2006 hurricane season), Mooney—a native of New Orleans—has written what will surely be one of the most talked-about books of the year.

About Chris Mooney

Chris Mooney is the Washington correspondent for Seed magazine and a senior correspondent for The American Prospect. His writing has appeared in numerous other publications, including New Scientist, Mother Jones, The New Republic, and the Boston Globe, and he is the author of The Republican War on Science. He lives in Washington, D.C.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Peter

Pretty well done account of the history (up until 2007) of the debate over the connection between hurricanes (intensity, frequency) and global warming. He delves into the deeper history of tropical cyclone research and it was fun to read about the great old names of tropical meteorology like Herbert......more

Goodreads review by Jackie

Ho-hum. I better understand the politics and battles within the fields that study hurricanes and weather forecasting after reading this book, but I can't say that I care too much. Basically, we know enough to be able to say that humans are impacting global climate change and that ocean temperatures......more

Goodreads review by Andrea

I'm going to preface this review by saying that I'm a meteorologist who is all for reducing GHG emissions. But... *Sigh* Another journalist posing as an objective reporter, and almost pulls it off. In this round, Mooney actually does a really good job of summarizing the history of hurricane science,......more

Goodreads review by Richard

I didn't really follow the details of the science. My main takeaway was the overall impression of the philosophical divide between modelers and empiricists, and the general conclusion that we only know that climate change impacts hurricane intensity and numbers without really knowing how much. It al......more

Goodreads review by Leah

Clear, comfortable read......more