Storm Surge by Adam Sobel

Sep 04 2014

Prof. Adam Sobel's first book, Storm Surge: Hurricane Sandy, Our Changing Climate, and Extreme Weather of the Past and Future, was selected as a 2014 Atmospheric Science Librarians International (ASLI) Choice Awards Winner.

The book focuses on Hurricane Sandy and related issues, such as climate change, the science behind both weather forecasts and climate projections, and how we as human beings and societies cope with environmental risks.

Was Hurricane Sandy a freak event—or a harbinger of things to come? Was climate change responsible? What connects the spiraling clouds our satellites saw from space, the brackish water that rose up over the city’s seawalls, and the slow simmer of greenhouse gases? Why weren’t we better prepared?

In this fascinating and accessible work of popular science, atmospheric scientist and Columbia University professor Adam Sobel addresses these questions, giving us insight into the sophisticated science that led to the forecasts of the storm before it hit, as well as an understanding of why our meteorological vocabulary failed our leaders in warning us about this “Superstorm”—part hurricane, part winter-type nor’easter.

Storm Surge brings together the melting glaciers, the shifting jet streams, and the warming oceans to make clear how our changing climate will make New York and other cities more vulnerable than ever to huge storms—and how we can hope to mitigate the damage. Sobel’s book provokes us to rethink the future of our climate and how we can better prepare for the storms to come.

Follow Prof. Sobel on his new blog

Book Review - Kirkus

Hurricane Sandy Two Years Later: Five Questions with Adam Sobel

RealClimate: excerpts from Storm Surge

Leonard Lopate Show: Was Climate Change Responsible for Hurricane Sandy?

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