the Rising Threat of Atlantic Hurricanes: History, Devastation, and Fight for Future

Every summer, from June until October or even later, the same ritual repeats along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts. Weather forecasters point to a cluster of thunderstorms spinning off the coast of Africa, thousands of miles away, and residents from Texas to Maine begin to watch. It is a strange kind of vigilance, born of experience passed down through generations of coastal families. This book was written from that vigilance. It is an attempt to understand not just what hurricanes are, but why they have shaped, and continue to reshape, the communities that live in their path. The chapters that follow move from the physical science of these storms to the human stories behind history's worst disasters, and finally to the difficult questions we now face about a warming ocean and a coastline that keeps filling with people and property. More people live along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts today than at any point in history. Cities that were modest fishing villages a century ago are now sprawling with metropolitan centers, packed with homes, hospitals, and highways sitting only a few feet above sea level. Thousands of people are at risk from Hurricane storms At the same time, the ocean that fuels these storms is warming. Scientists have documented a clear rise in sea surface temperatures across the tropical Atlantic, and warmer water is the raw fuel a hurricane needs to grow. The combination of more people in harm's way and a warmer ocean below them means the stakes of the next major storm are higher than ever. Understanding how we got here, and what comes next, is the purpose of this book.