The Power of the Sea: Tsunamis, Storm Surges, Rogue Waves, and Our Quest to Predict Disasters
Author(s): Bruce Parker
Classics from Moby Dick to A Perfect Storm have sought to capture mankind's obsession with the might and the mystery of the sea. And the greatest minds for centuries, including Isaac Newton, Napoleon, and Benjamin Franklin, have worked to understand and predict when its next act of destruction will occur. The awesome power of the earth's oceans have been at the forefront of everyone's minds in recent years, from the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami (230,000 dead) to the devastation of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina to the unknown consequences of the melting of thousands of glaciers as the Earth's temperature slowly rises. Bruce Parker, former Chief Scientist for the National Ocean Service, brings together the breathtaking history of man's relationship with the sea with the latest scientific breakthroughs to explore in this wide-sweeping, fascinating narrative: * Napoleon's realization about what happened to Moses in the Red Sea after his own narrow escape from it's dangerous tides * The important role the tides played in assuring the Allied victory on D-Day, and how a typhoon decided a key naval battle in the Pacific theater * How in 1970 the country of Bangladesh claimed it's independence following a deadly storm surge that claimed half a million lives * A 500-foot tsunami (the largest in recorded history) that carried three fishing boats from a quiet bay in Alaska in the 1950s to middle of the Pacific Ocean - and two men survived to tell the tale. * How a ten year old English girl saved the lives of hundreds during the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami * How today's scientists are working to predict the sea's next move through a vast global array of oceanographic sensors - on buoys, on ships, on islands, along coasts, and on satellites that provide huge quantities of real-time data to scientists in the international community. This is a richly textured narrative that takes readers through over a thousand years of the ocean's uncompromising role in mankind's fate, gripping science readers, amateur oceanographers, and weather enthusiasts everywhere.
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"A fascinating exploration." - Andrew Revkin, Dot Earth blog, - "The New York Times" "Examines the violent impact of the seas on human society, and our long struggle to understand them...any reader with an interest in the subject will appreciate Parker's expertise." - "Publishers Weekly" "Recommended." - "Choice" "Rarely does a book written by a practicing scientist grab you like this one. Intelligent, accurate, and accessible "The Power of the Sea" reads like a "Believe It or Not" of aquatic destruction. The largest wave in history? What did the tides have to do with the Normandy Invasion? How many people died in the Indonesian tsunami of 2004? What does "Kamikaze" have to do with the power of the sea? What really happened to Krakatoa? What should we have done about Katrina? For the answers to these and questions you never thought to ask, read Bruce Parker's wonderful book." - Richard Ellis, author of "The Empty Ocean "and" Tuna: A Love Story"
BRUCE PARKER is a world recognized expert in the oceans. He is former Chief Scientist of the National Ocean Service and occupied various posts in international organizations that study ocean behavior. He is presently Visiting Professor at the Centre for Maritime Systems at the Stevens Institute of Technology in New Jersey, USA. Among his awards are the U.S. Department of Commerce Gold Medal and the Commodore Cooper Medal from the International Hydrographic Organization. He lives in Virginia.
When the Sea Turns Against Us: Escaping its Fury through Prediction The Earliest Predictions for the Sea: The Tide The Moon, the Sun, and the Sea: The Tide Predictions for D-Day The Sea's Greatest Killer: Predicting Storm Surges Defending our Coasts: Flooded Cities Stormy Seas: Predicting Sea, Swell, and Surf 'Holes' in the Surface of the Sea: Rogue Waves The Sea's Response to an Unpredictable Earth: Trying to Predict Tsunamis December 26, 2004 (Part 1): Tragic Surprise in the Indian Ocean December 26, 2004 (Part 2): Learning from a Tragedy Predicting the Future - and Saving Lives: El Nino, Climate Change, and a Global Ocean Observing System Endnotes Acknowledgments
General Fields
- :
- : Palgrave Macmillan
- : Palgrave Macmillan
- : 0.517
- : 31 October 2010
- : 240mm X 159mm X 27mm
- : United Kingdom
- : 01 November 2010
- : books
Special Fields
- : Bruce Parker
- : Hardback
- : 551.463
- : 304
- : illustrations
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