Author Joel N. Myers, founder of AccuWeather, takes us on a journey from the beginning of time to the modern day to witness how climate and weather have impacted world events throughout history:
- the massive climate disruption triggered by a comet impacting the Earth almost 67 million years ago, which led to the extinction of the dinosaurs and the emergence of our earliest mammalian ancestors,
- the dramatic climate shift in 1213 BC that created the conditions for the Ten Plagues of Egypt, a foundational moment in three major world religions,
- how superior knowledge of the winds allowed the ancient Greeks to prevail over Persian invaders in 400 BC,
- the ‘Little Ice Age’ of the 14th to 19th centuries, caused in part by increased volcanic activity, which led to both the Salem Witch Trials and our idea of a ‘Dickensian’ White Christmas,
- the unusually cold weather of January, 1986 which caused the Challenger Space Shuttle Disaster.
