99 of 113 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Thought-provoking and well written, December 13, 1999
Expecting to read more of the "same-old" doomsday speculation rampant on Art Bell's radio show, this book suprised me with both its message and its scope. With the exception of some of the initial chapters, which provide an overview of recent theories regarding the age of mankind, the entire book was new material for me. It was the first time I'd heard of a "superstorm", how one would form, and the effects such a storm would have. The prospect is terrifying.
The book is so well-written, however, that I felt the book's message was a call to action rather than an simply a disruptive alarm. The authors cleverly intersperse realistic-yet-fictional scenes of the onset of such a storm between the factual, sometimes dry prose. The result is a book that is extremely informative and a pleasure to read (similar to "The Hot Zone").
Grounded in science and only minimally speculative(the authors state very clearly where they do so), this book is well worth reading and contemplating. I hope the book finds its way into academia soon.
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63 of 71 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
The Coming Global Superstorm, February 27, 2000
According to this new book, a monstrous storm of extremely damaging winds, nonstop snow and ice is on its way and could mean the end of our civilization. Depending on when the storm arrives, whether it is Winter or Summer, will determine whether we enter another Ice Age. The main brunt of the reason for the storm is that the North Atlantic Current, which helps maintain our current climate, will shift - allowing for Arctic air to plunge southward. Bell and Strieber claim that Global Warming has moved forward this natural phenomena of superstorms by several thousand years because of humans' poor stewardship of the planet (use of fossil fuels, toxic waste etc.) "Nineteen ninety-nine was the most violent year in the modern history of weather. So was 1998. So was 1997. And 1996." This period of violent weather is a warning, say the authors. Bell and Strieber point to woolly mammoths frozen while chewing vegetation and frozen orange trees found in northern Siberia as proof of prior superstorms which occur suddenly, without any warning. Many other interesting theories abound in the book, including the possibility of a technologically advanced civilization that lived about 10,000 years ago, but was wiped out by the last superstorm.
Art Bell is a well-known radio talk show host. His show covers conspiracy theories, UFOs, unexplained phenomena, global warming and other unusual topics. Whitley Strieber is best known as being the author of the bestselling book, Communion: A True Story, an account of alien abduction. Bell and Strieber lay the groundwork for their theory of the coming superstorm in the main text, but there is also a running fictional account of what happens when the storm arrives. The fictional story is both exciting and frightening; it could have easily made a gripping sf novel on its own merit.
The authors show good scientific instincts in picking this outcome rather than the standard one; their conception of a sudden reorganization of prevailing wind currents that mixes tropic and artic air directly in a giant superstorm is a creative and credible hypothesis. The Coming Global Superstorm is a frightening book whose message of weather-generated doom will hit home for those who follow our increasingly bad weather. Even skeptics may find some of the scientific evidence hard to refute. Fans of Art Bell's show, weather buffs and geologists should find plenty of things to pique their interest here.
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73 of 83 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fair Weather Warning, December 6, 1999
Though both Mr. Bell and Mr. Strieber have very vocal critics about their ideas and motives you cannot deny the impact that both individuals have had on our society's popular culture. Continuing to create debate and discussion is The Coming Global Superstorm which I am sure will create a "storm" of conversation with it's readers. Mixing both "fictional" scenarios as well as documented data Bell & Strieber paint what might be a very dim view of our planet's fate, but rest assured there is always a chance for change. Could a storm overtake the entire planet? If it did would we survive? This book takes on questions such as these and as Mr. Bell himself has said "..trys not to alarm, but inform." I may not always agree with the concepts of Mr. Bell and Mr. Strieber but as I sit in my office in SouthEastern Michigan this first week of December and watch the thermometer jump past 62 degrees I can't help but wonder, didn't it use to snow around here at this time of year?
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