This is a short but incredibly fact-filled and fascinating book. I read it in about half an hour and learned much on each page. There were maps that I have not previously seen that were extremely interesting, such as one showing the "return frequency" of major hurricanes for the Eastern Seaboard. There we learn that major hurricanes tend to appear every decade or so at South Florida and Louisiana, decreasing as we go north until we reach Maine, which can only expect a major hurricane to hit every 150 years or so.
With Harvey and Irma on our minds, it was fascinating to note multiple previous cases of major hurricanes hitting the same area within 10 days or so, as in Mobile. Alabama in 1740, Charleston, SC in 1752, Virginia and North Carolina in 1795. Spencer provides a table showing the enormous growth in population on the East Coast between 1960 and 2008, ranging from 15% in New York to 262% in Florida. It is this that leads Spencer, normally the opposite of an alarmist, to note that it is only a matter of time before the first trillion-dollar hurricane will occur. Spencer provides data showing that the Accumulated Cyclonic Energy of hurricanes has gone down, not up, over the last century.
Besides the excellent short summary of hurricane history over the past few centuries, Spencer provides a short analysis of what makes a hurricane so destructive. Despite the claims of many "experts" that the warm waters are the main determinant, Spencer finds that hurricanes of equal destructiveness can occur when the water is both warmer and cooler than normal for the tropics. Instead, wind shear, which affects the sharpness of the temperature gradient with height and thus affects the ability of the hurricane to maintain its pattern, is of primary importance.
There is also a short section on sea level rise, which has been very steady over the past couple of centuries, not accelerating as would be expected if global warming itself is accelerating. However, Spencer points out that land subsidence, such as in Miami, is doubling the local effect on flooding.
Spencer is a meteorologist who for many years has operated the NASA satellite program measuring temperature in the atmosphere. His book is thus very reasonable and informed. I recommend it highly. (Price is right, too.)
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