Customer Reviews

The Coming Global Superstorm

5 star:		(45)
4 star:		(20)
3 star:		(12)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(42)

 

 

As soon as I've read the first pages, it was creepy and very apocalyptic. It was the best book I've read. The message of the book is "Move south now!". Now I think I should move to Australia! Anyways, it also tells us that this disaster is avoidable (by not polluting).

I recommend this book to all those who think climate change is a joke and who drive a SUV to work every day, and to all Texans who don't care about the future generations.

After reading the book, checking sources, seeing the film more than once I have to say to all those who mock and laugh at the premise of the book that this is not a work of fiction, but, a record of Earth's geological past and what is to come. There have been many, many ice ages in earth's history most lasting for between 100,000 to 200,000 years, so, to those who laugh, do so at your own peril.

I haven't read the book, but another reviewer wrote something funny. He refered to Y2k and how people were worried about the end of the world then, and they were obviously wrong. (basically, making his point that the Superstorm idea is just as silly). Well, to that I would only say that Y2k could have easily caused major problems around the world if not for the hundreds of thousands of programmers working for years to solve the problem. So the only reason Y2K didn't "end the world" is because we worked to prevent it!! The same COULD be true for global warming if we don't prevent it. Many socially irresponsible people need a 6000 lb SUV to drive themselves to work. I guess they don't mind taking their chances that all the "left-wing idiots" are wrong. Personally, I wouldn't risk it.

THE COMING OF THE GLOBAL SUPERSTORM warns of the coming end of civilization following the one-two punch of a global warming followed by devastating ice age. Art Bell and Whitley Streiber suggest that the seeming paradox of intense heat can cause a sudden melting of the polar ice caps, which in turn, can cause a disruption of the North Atlantic Gulf Stream. It is this weakening, they note, that will result in the massive and lightning quick advance of the polar ice to the previously warm Northern Hemisphere. Within days, then hours, the entire North American continent, Europe, Russia, and North Africa will be ripped apart by a superstorm unprecedented in ferocity. This part of their book has just enough reasonableness in its logic to invest their claims with some sobering apprehension. For those who have seen the film, THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW, upon which this book is based, were treated to some truly amazing special effects of New York being inundated by a massive sea surge.

The problem with accepting their premise is two fold. First, several prominent climatologists have refuted the idea that such a catastrophe could strike within days. These weather experts agree that yes, such a flooding and freezing could occur, but only after thousands of years. What the reader has to face is the hard choice of which set of experts to believe. No one wants to accept the doomsday scenario of Bell and Streiber, so there is the natural tendency to scoff at their claims. Bell and Streiber, to their credit, admit that it would take courage and foresight to accept their thesis. To make their claims more enticing they resort to methods of persuasion that are superficially glitzy but do not fall into the category of hard scientific empiricism. And this brings me to their second problem. Bell and Streiber have written their book as a sort of oddly blended HAB THEORY wedded to CHARIOTS OF THE GODS. In these latter books, their authors posit the existence of previous civilizations that were quickly wiped out by natural phenomena. No reputable scientist can accept a premise that relies on an underpinning of sensational pulpist writing of lost civilization. Further, Bell and Streiber intersperse their text with a fictional viewpoint of a climatologist who passes judgment on the oncoming superstorm. As long as they stick to their hard science discussion of the mechanics of ice flow, their account is oddly compelling. But the fictionalized viewpoints and digressions on lost civilizations intrude to the point that the reader shakes his head and wishes for more prose on ice flow and less on the lost glories of Atlantis. If indeed Bell and Streiber are correct in their premise that the downfall of human civilization is a heartbeat away, then someone else will have to warn humanity in a way that appeals more to the head and less to the heart. The possibility of being right is no excuse for being unconvincing.

Makes for good entertaining reading, but like the movie Day After Tomorrow, just be sure not to take it too seriously, as the authors have no real scientific credentials to speak of. Frankly, anyone who would actually seriously believe Whitley Streiber's material probably thinks that The X-Files is a documentary series.

Just remember this book is brought to you by the same people that said the world as we know it would end 1/1/2000 when the computers melt down. Y2K came and went and we are all functioning normally, therefore, I can't see how anyone can take anything this collaboration has to say seriously. Maybe if you are into remote viewing, whatever that is.

As most fans of Art Bell and Whitley Strieber know, this is the book that inspired Roland Emmerich to write and direct The Day After Tomorrow. For that reason alone it is a must read for any disaster movie/novel fanatic. Bell and Strieber use a combination of myth interpretation, amatuer and/or pseudo-science speculation and fictional dramatization of the actual prophesied event to educate/scare the reader with their theory that a single and quite massive 'superstorm' might bring about either a new ice age or global flood. Whichever it might be depends on what time of year the storm is unleashed on an unsuspecting world. Some of the examples sited are a tad suspect. I am fairly certain that Carl Sagan debunked the moon-is-a-broken-off-part-of-Earth theory way back when Cosmos was a first run television series and, while each culture may have a flood myth, this does not necessarily mean that a global flood occurred. Just about every region of the world will flood at some point or another and it is a long stretch to imply that the myths are linked to a single event. The less said about the use of an astrological calender, the better. Nonetheless, if you are as big a fan of Mrrs. Bell and Strieber as I am, then you will probably find this book an entertaining 'what-if' piece of infotainment, but I remain a 'wait and see' skeptic in regards to whether or not said superstorm actually exists.

When this book first appeared it was dismissed by professional climatologists. Now it seems Bell and Strieber were on to something all along. The cause of global warming is irrelevant. the fact of it must, however, be faced. Once viewed as a work of pure fiction, the theory suggested in the book may be becoming all too real. A great book by a master craftsman in Strieber and cutting edge explorer in Bell. Highly recommended.

Before I read this book I had never heard of Art Bell or Whitley Striber. Therefore, as a scientist, I read this book with an open mind. The book addresses the intriguing and controversial hypothesis that alterations in the flow of the North Atlantic Current could have sudden and violent cataclysmic effects on global weather patterns. This is such an intriguing topic that it's unfortunate it wasn't addressed by someone like Bill Bryson or Richard Rhodes, who would have given the topic a much more analytical and scientific treatment. In my opinion, Striber and Bell have hijacked the topic of potential weather-related global cataclysm, and used it as a vehicle to persuade the reader that advanced civilizations once existed on our planet and were lost in a violent climatic upheaval. They present legitimate scientific observations and as-yet unexplained phenomena (much of it unrelated to the topic of global climate) and casually link them to some of the more fanatastic claims of pseudoscience. This book is worth reading for entertainment, but the reader should definitely keep in mind the saying "you shouldn't believe everything you read". The bottom line is this book is long on pseudoscience and speculations (more than a few of them outrageous) and short on substantial scientific information.

The Coming Global Superstorm is a wonderful Non-Fiction Book that explains many scenarios about our ever changing world that we live in and also our dire future. I highly recommed reading this as the film that was based on the book The Day After Tomorrow hits theatres this Memorial Day.