El Nino: The Weather Phenomenon That Changed the World - Hardcover

Couper-Johnston, Ross

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0340728388 ISBN 13: 9780340728383

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton Ltd, 2000

Synopsis

In the late 1990s catastrophic droughts, floods, fires and famines became synonymous with the term El Nino. But El Nino was etching its imprint on the world in a myriad of different ways, long before it made headline news. From the Irish potato famine to the sinking of the Titanic, from the outbreak of the War of Independence in Mexico to the collapse of Hitler's Russian campaign, El Nino has helped shape world history and will continue to do so. The Uncontrollable Child is an exploration of El Nino's impact on millions of people and animals around the world, piecing together a multitude of seemingly disconnected events. Touching upon people and events from all continents, the story of El Nino reflects much about the global interconnectedness of our world. Only through modern developments in science and communications has that jigsaw begun to be put together, and can the story finally be told.

About this title

Review:

For centuries the fisherfolk of Peru have been aware that, each Christmas, the chilly northbound waters of their shoreline are overswept by warmer southbound currents. The fishermen call this seasonal oceanic hiccup El Nino, "The Christ Child", in honour of its Yuletide timing and bountiful gifts of fish--a deceptively kindly epithet when you consider that, on those years when El Nino fails, as it does every decade or so, it causes worldwide disruption and mayhem.

The job of author (and science filmmaker) Couper-Johnston is to explain the mechanism behind this mystery: how unexpected cold water in the Pacific means starvation in India, oil spills in Alaska, mosquito plagues in Memphis. The style is anecdotal and energetic: with one breathless bound CJ can shift from Aztec human sacrifice to Chinese child slavery to the sinking of the Titanic (all, it seems, promoted or caused by El Nino's climatic mischief-making).

Sometimes the writer's enthusiasm gets the better of him, and he overeggs the eco-meteorological pudding: by the end the reader is left wondering whether El Nino might be halfway responsible for the disappointing sales of the latest Oasis album. Nonetheless, an absorbing, accessible and highly enjoyable book.--Sean Thomas

About the Author:

Ross Couper-Johnston is a producer and director of wildlife and science documentaries. He has worked on a diverse range of topics including human evolution, tigers, dinosaurs and the aftermath of the Gulf War. El Nino first grabbed his attention in 1983 when he was investigating the devastating bushfires which engulfed huge swathes of south-eastern Australia during one of the century's strongest El Nino's. He has been researching the subject ever since.

About this edition

• Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton Ltd
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0340728388
• ISBN 13: 9780340728383
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 365