A lightning storm strikes after sunset. Weather has powerfully shaped humankind throughout our history, from extreme storms, to dust events, to killer hail.
The Extraordinary Ways Weather Has Changed Human History
From determining the outcome of wars to wholesale destruction of lives and property, weather affects our lives in a shocking number of ways.
Since the beginning of human history, we have been buffeted by weather and climate change, sometimes to a shocking extent. And we’ve only just begun to understand the whys and hows. In his new book, Weather: An Illustrated History, Andrew Revkin, with Lisa Mechaley, traces 4.5 billion years of weather and climate in 100 entries, from major weather events, to climate change, to the people who started to figure out how our planet works.
When National Geographic spoke to him from his home in the Hudson Valley, New York, Revkin explained how Ben Franklin became the first storm chaser; how weather has affected the outcome of wars; and some of the weird ways extreme weather events
