The Coming Global Superstorm: And How to Prevent It

Rating:
Summary: Could Melting Ice Break A Delicate Chain?
Review: Now that Y2K has come and gone, there's nothing to worry about -- right? Wrong, say radio talkshow host Art Bell and Whitley Strieber, author of alien-encounter bestsellers "Communion" and "Confirmation." Unless you have an unlimited supply of food and fuel and don't mind the prospect of shoveling 50 feet of snow from your driveway, you'll want to read "The Coming Global Superstorm." In it, the two argue the current global warming could actually trigger a new ice age by melting the polar ice caps and changing the course of warm ocean currents that control weather from Seattle to Stockholm. The pair intersperse their non-fiction account of what is happening with an engrossing fictional tale told through the eyes of a National Weather Service employee. He quietly moves his family to Texas while Europe and the northern United States are pretty much plunged into weather-related anarchy -- that is, the parts that survive. As a literary work, this isn't exactly Shakespeare. But it isn't intended to be. Citing everything to mainstream press accounts to scientific journals throughout their narrative, the two authors dare doubters to go to their sources and see the raw data for themselves. As a news reporter for a Midwestern daily, I have double-checked many of their sources for an upcoming article -- and I am frightened.

Rating:
Summary: Some science, some pseudo-science....
Review: Before I read this book I had never heard of Art Bell or Whitley Striber. Therefore, as a scientist, I read this book with an open mind. The book addresses the intriguing and controversial hypothesis that alterations in the flow of the North Atlantic Current could have sudden and violent cataclysmic effects on global weather patterns. This is such an intriguing topic that it's unfortunate it wasn't addressed by someone like Bill Bryson or Richard Rhodes, who would have given the topic a much more analytical and scientific treatment. In my opinion, Striber and Bell have hijacked the topic of potential weather-related global cataclysm, and used it as a vehicle to persuade the reader that advanced civilizations once existed on our planet and were lost in a violent climatic upheaval. They present legitimate scientific observations and as-yet unexplained phenomena (much of it unrelated to the topic of global climate) and casually link them to some of the more fanatastic claims of pseudoscience. This book is worth reading for entertainment, but the reader should definitely keep in mind the saying "you shouldn't believe everything you read". The bottom line is this book is long on pseudoscience and speculations (more than a few of them outrageous) and short on substantial scientific information.

Rating:
Summary: Coast to Coast AM and Dreamland w/ Whitley Streiber fan.
Review: The Coming Global Superstorm is a wonderful Non-Fiction Book that explains many scenarios about our ever changing world that we live in and also our dire future. I highly recommed reading this as the film that was based on the book The Day After Tomorrow hits theatres this Memorial Day.

Rating:
Summary: Could Melting Ice Break A Delicate Chain?
Review: Now that Y2K has come and gone, there's nothing to worry about -- right? Wrong, say radio talkshow host Art Bell and Whitley Strieber, author of alien-encounter bestsellers "Communion" and "Confirmation." Unless you have an unlimited supply of food and fuel and don't mind the prospect of shoveling 50 feet of snow from your driveway, you'll want to read "The Coming Global Superstorm." In it, the two argue the current global warming could actually trigger a new ice age by melting the polar ice caps and changing the course of warm ocean currents that control weather from Seattle to Stockholm. The pair intersperse their non-fiction account of what is happening with an engrossing fictional tale told through the eyes of a National Weather Service employee. He quietly moves his family to Texas while Europe and the northern United States are pretty much plunged into weather-related anarchy -- that is, the parts that survive. As a literary work, this isn't exactly Shakespeare. But it isn't intended to be. Citing everything to mainstream press accounts to scientific journals throughout their narrative, the two authors dare doubters to go to their sources and see the raw data for themselves. As a news reporter for a Midwestern daily, I have double-checked many of their sources for an upcoming article -- and I am frightened.

Rating:
Summary: Good as entertainment only
Review: Makes for good entertaining reading, but like the movie Day After Tomorrow, just be sure not to take it too seriously, as the authors have no real scientific credentials to speak of. Frankly, anyone who would actually seriously believe Whitley Streiber's material probably thinks that The X-Files is a documentary series.

Rating:
Summary: You can also buy a bridge from these guys
Review: Just remember this book is brought to you by the same people that said the world as we know it would end 1/1/2000 when the computers melt down. Y2K came and went and we are all functioning normally, therefore, I can't see how anyone can take anything this collaboration has to say seriously. Maybe if you are into remote viewing, whatever that is.

Rating:
Summary: An entertaining 'what-if' scenario.
Review: As most fans of Art Bell and Whitley Strieber know, this is the book that inspired Roland Emmerich to write and direct The Day After Tomorrow. For that reason alone it is a must read for any disaster movie/novel fanatic. Bell and Strieber use a combination of myth interpretation, amatuer and/or pseudo-science speculation and fictional dramatization of the actual prophesied event to educate/scare the reader with their theory that a single and quite massive 'superstorm' might bring about either a new ice age or global flood. Whichever it might be depends on what time of year the storm is unleashed on an unsuspecting world. Some of the examples sited are a tad suspect. I am fairly certain that Carl Sagan debunked the moon-is-a-broken-off-part-of-Earth theory way back when Cosmos was a first run television series and, while each culture may have a flood myth, this does not necessarily mean that a global flood occurred. Just about every region of the world will flood at some point or another and it is a long stretch to imply that the myths are linked to a single event. The less said about the use of an astrological calender, the better. Nonetheless, if you are as big a fan of Mrrs. Bell and Strieber as I am, then you will probably find this book an entertaining 'what-if' piece of infotainment, but I remain a 'wait and see' skeptic in regards to whether or not said superstorm actually exists.

Rating:
Summary: Prophetic and Compelling
Review: When this book first appeared it was dismissed by professional climatologists. Now it seems Bell and Strieber were on to something all along. The cause of global warming is irrelevant. the fact of it must, however, be faced. Once viewed as a work of pure fiction, the theory suggested in the book may be becoming all too real. A great book by a master craftsman in Strieber and cutting edge explorer in Bell. Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Confirmed by the Pentagon
Review: When I first read the book I thought it was enjoyable, but trashy. The science in it seemed pretty far fetched. But the theories outlined in the book have gained more and more scientific credence. The Pentagon has even warned of the possibility of exactly the situation described in the book and has recommended that the US prepare for it. ...

Rating:
Summary: Do not judge the messengers
Review: I admit Bell and Whitley are flaky but did you read Discover amagazine's Oct. 2002 articel on how global warming could lead to a new Ice Age? The famous Woods Hole Institute is not flaky and they confirm Bell's findings

The book needs a Bibliography and detailed footnotes and source references. But this is not to be ridiculed.