Book Description

Discover the impactful ways that climate and weather changed the very course of human history from the founder and CEO of AccuWeather! Join AccuWeather founder and CEO Dr. Joel N. Myers on a journey from the beginning of time to the modern day to see how weather and climate impacted world events throughout history, both the good and the bad. Learn about the comet that hit Earth almost 67 million years ago, and how it triggered a massive climate disruption that led to the extinction of the dinosaur; the dramatic climate shift in 1213 BC that created the conditions for the Ten Plagues of Egypt, a foundational moment in three major world religions; how superior knowledge of the winds allowed the ancient Greeks to prevail over Persian attackers in 400 BC; the volcano in 44 BC that helped launch the Roman Empire; how Tropical storms thwarted Mongol invaders and preserved an independent Japan in 1273; how the "Little Ice Age" ushered in the age of the European Witch Trials, which eventually influenced the Salem Witch Trials; the shipwreck of the Sea Venture in 1609 in an Atlantic hurricane that inspired Shakespeare's last play TheTempest; the fog that helped to create an independent United States of America during the Revolutionary War; the storm in 1814 that ended the reign of Napoleon Bonaparte; the "Great White Hurricane," i.e. two major blizzards, that helped create the New York Subway System in 1888; and so much more! Also explored are weather what-ifs, including the haunting question: Would the hurricane that remained off the coast have prevented the deadly attacks of September 11, 2001, if it had just moved inland? Dr. Myers founded AccuWeather, the world's most accurate source of highly localized weather forecasts and warnings everywhere in the world, in 1962, and ever since, he has been the foremost authority on all things weather. Invisible Iceberg: When Climate and Weather Shaped History is an exciting, sometimes shocking, trip around the world and through time to prove once and for all that weather really does shape the world and the course of history!