El Nino in History: Storming Through the Ages

By Cesar N. Caviedes

C sar
Caviedes provides the first comprehensive historical account of El Ni o,
the fascinating and disruptive weather phenomenon that has affected
weather cycles all over the globe for thousands of years. Combining
scientific accuracy with readable presentation, he brings together all
existing information, references, and clues about past El Ni o
occurrences and their impact on political, military, social, economic,
and environmental history. This sweeping demonstration of the impact of
climatic fluctuation on human history will be fascinating to the
scientific community as well as to the general public.

From
the extraordinary discovery of Easter Island and Pizarro's conquest of
the Incas to the defeat of both Napoleon and Hitler in Russia and the
sinking of the Titanic, Caviedes shows how this enigmatic phenomenon has
swayed the course of history and human affairs. Searching historical
sources, traditional accounts, archaeological findings, and geological
evidence in North America, South America, and Europe, Caviedes discusses
in length the toll that El Ni os have taken on populations in various
parts of the world and offers an overview of La Ni a, the equally feared
twin.

Presenting basic concepts necessary to understand the
oceanic and meteorological processes associated with El Ni o, Caviedes
explains how air flows from the Pacific Ocean export heat and humidity
to distant parts of the world, describes the impact of these climatic
variations on ecological systems, and discusses the methods used to
track down past episodes of El Ni o and La Ni a. He also looks back at
the origins of the term El Ni o among regional fishermen in northern
Peru during colonial times and presents a compilation of El Ni o events
that have occurred in recent centuries.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0813020999
• ISBN13: 9780813020990
• Release Date: September 2001
• Publisher: University Press of Florida
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 1.34 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.3" x 9.4"

Customer Reviews

El Niño in History. Storming through the ages.

This book, written by Dr. Cesar Caviedes about the historical implications of El Niño, is an excellent source of information and also a valuable teaching tool for undergraduate teaching. I have used the first chapter to explain to the students of an introductory Environmental Science course at Georgetown University the basic oceanic and meteorological processes that are involved and explain El Niño events with great success. The book does not only offer clear explanations, but it also is rich in appropriate illustrations that further clarify the intricate concepts. The book is written in a very engaging and creative manner reflecting in my opinion Dr. Caviedes' expertise in this subject and also his qualities as a teacher. A work like this entices the reader to look at history with a new and different perspective, a history which is much more intertwined with climatic events than we may have assumed. The discovery of Rapa Nui (Easter Island), the failure of the Napoleon campaign in Russia and the defeat of the German Army at Stalingrad during the Second World War, are telling examples that attest to the importance of environmental circumstances in the outcome of some human affairs.I enjoyed this book the first time I read it and I still savor it when I return to its most thrilling passages. Highly recommended!

Historically correct

Press attribution of the unsusual weather of 1998-99 to El Nino gave hitherto unprecedented notoriety to this profound weather phenomenon, thus leading much of the public to believe that this was something new. It is very ancient.Because of an interest in the history of sailing ships, this reviewer thought he was knowledgeable about El Nino, which controls the Humboldt Current flowing up the west coast of South America, significantly affecting sailing ships and vital for Peru's fisheries.Nevertheless, this scholarly and thoroughly documented account was a revelation in its details of El Nino's long history and vast worldwide climatic effects, both beneficial and disastrous. This book can be strongly reommended, not only for meteorologists and climatologists, but also for archaeologists, historians and anyone concerned with agricultural policies anywhere.Most particularly, this is recommended reading for anyone producing computer models purporting to forecast global warming trends.

El Niño in History

Dr. César Caviedes' recent book entitled El Niño in History is based on numerous historical references that the author has collected over more than 30 years. In the early chapters of the book oceanic and meteorological mechanisms of El Niño and its counterpart, La Niña, are described. The author then identifies and examines numerous events in political, military, social, economic and cultural history that were influenced by El Niño and La Niña. Events include storms and floods, droughts, military campaigns, hurricanes and shipwrecks covering a wide time frame extending from the present to more than 10,000 years ago.The author describes an example of how El Niño altered civilizations. He uses the Chicago Field Museum study in northern Peru (Nials et al. 1979) to illustrate a multi-disciplinary approach to identifying historic El Niño episodes in periods when climatologic data are not available. In the Nials study archaeologists, geologists and other specialists compared large river deposits left by contemporary El Niños with fossil deposits found in the area. As a result of these comparisons Nials and other investigators were able to date and size historic El Niño events in pre-Columbian Peru. Investigators were then able to conclude that the coastal Moche and Chimu civilizations were decimated by El Niño associated floods and droughts which ultimately led to the ascendance of the mountain dwelling Incas.The author issues a direct challenge to readers of his book who are fond of environmental history. He suggests that they search written sources for references to extreme climatic events that serve as a back drop for notable historical circumstances to see if they can be related to a specific El Niño occurrence. Dr. Caviedes is to be complimented on his excellent presentation of a complex and intriguing subject. I highly recommend this book to anyone who has a multi-disciplinary interest in history. Accept his challenge and identify a previously unknown civilization altering El Niño!

Excellent book to learn about the impacts of El Nino!

The author explains in very clear language the complicated El Nino phenomenon and its far-reaching ecological, social, economic and political impacts during the last few centuries. The book is an excellent example of how an interdisciplinary approach can shed light on a complex oceanic-meteorological event and its ramifications throughout the world and human history. The author weaves meteorology, oceanography, history, economics, ecology, and political and social sciences in to a rich account of the history of El Nino. The book is founded on thorough scientific research, yet completely comprehensible for a lay person like me. The clear style of writing kept my attention to the last page. The numerous illustrations and graphs are very effective and helpful. Anybody who is interested in El Nino and its impact on human events will find this a very insightful book.

Great book about historical facts of "el Nino"

Dear Sir or Madam, While visiting the city of Toronto in Canada recently I came across a new book about the climate phenomenon "El Nino". After having read this book all I can say that this title is excellent, and probably one of the best documented books published lately on this subject. The historical perspective projected by Dr. Caviedes is of great value to people that dedicates time to think about, or, to study all the latest changes in the weather patterns that we all see nowadays, and some of us experience first hand. Like this current summer drought across Canada, whereas in some other areas of this great country were suffering heavy rains and potential floodings three weeks ago in the midwest of our province of Alberta. In a few words I recommend this book to anyone interested in understanding these modern type of climate changes, Excellent and the most complete and documented of the works that I have seen published lately. Sincerely, Gui Lagos Calgary, AB. Canada.