Solar Cataclysm
How the Sun Shaped the Past and What We Can Do to Save Our Future
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3.7 • 3 Ratings
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- $1.99
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- $1.99
Publisher Description
Science journalist and futurist Lawrence Joseph has studied the unprecedented solar storms since the last ice age and in Solar Cataclysm he reveals the monumental ecological, biological, emotional, political, financial, and cultural effects they have had in the past, and will ultimately have on humanity’s future. This timely, fascinating, and relevant book from the bestselling author of Apocalypse 2012 sounds an intelligent and urgent warning about the possible catastrophic consequences we will face in the coming years if we don’t listen to what the sun is trying to tell us. Popular science fans who made The World Without Us a runaway bestseller, readers open to new angles on history like those presented in Guns, Germs, and Steel, and anyone who is concerned about tomorrow and what we can do to ensure humankind’s survival must read Solar Cataclysm.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Futurist and science writer Joseph (Apocalypse 2012) describes the fascinating and subtle science underlying his "Moody Sun Hypothesis," asserting that variations in the Sun's radiation output have influenced history, climate, birthrates, migration trends, even the stock market (sunspot and solar flare activity cause disturbances in the electromagnetic field that can affect the brain and one's judgment). Although ancient Babylonians recorded observations of sunspots around 1000 B.C.E., Aristotle's ideas of "heavenly perfection" led the Church to deny the existence of sunspots until early telescopes proved otherwise. Measurements show that decreases in solar activity coincide with declines in Earth's temperatures. Joseph discusses evidence for what scientists call the Medieval Warm Period (900 1200 C.E.) and the subsequent "Little Ice Age" (1300 1750), when long winters and damp, chilly summers brought crop failures, famine, and political collapse. After a strong argument that global warming, though largely the result of human activity, is partly due to the Sun's variability, Joseph looks at biological effects, such as skin cancer and the value of phototherapy (the use of light to treat skin diseases and mental disorders). Joseph's argument is provocative food for thought for science readers.
