OPINION:
The wonders of weather, climate and the vast seas are explored and explained in “Megalodons, Mermaids, and Climate Change: Answers to Your Ocean and Atmosphere Questions” by marine scientist Ellen Prager and meteorologist Dave Jones. This engaging book, written for curious readers young and old, plumbs the depths of the oceans and the expanse of the skies to address a range of inquiries about the Earth’s watery and airy environs.
The intent of the book is “to provide short, easy-to-understand answers to common, interesting, and sometimes oddball questions.”
So, if your interests include shark attacks, the dangers of stingrays and jellyfish (and whether urinating on a jellyfish sting helps), the human consumption capacity of whales, evidence for the lost city of Atlantis, the threats of tsunamis, the accuracy of hurricane forecasting, the long-term prediction of extreme weather events, the reliability of Farmers’ Almanac prognostications, the effects of climate change, and of course megalodons and mermaids, then “Megalodons, Mermaids, and Climate Change” should be on your reading list.
The book has a wealth of facts gleaned from the real-world experience of the authors and their colleagues. The lengthy treatment of the life and critical ecosystem importance of corals is one example. Although my career has focused on atmospheric science, I found the engaging discussion of corals fascinating.
And if the topic of corals is captivating, imagine what the authors do with weird sky conditions such as St. Elmo’s fire, sprites, blue jets and elves, or curious ocean-atmosphere phenomenon like meteotsunamis.
“Megalodons, Mermaids, and Climate Change” is augmented with rudimentary but effective cartoons to accompany the book’s exceptional readability. And ample references are provided to supplement the valuable material found in each chapter.
The effects of climate change permeate the book. Solutions to curb excessive temperatures are proffered, such as transitioning to renewable solar and wind energy, halting deforestation, stopping methane leaks, improving energy efficiency, implementing more sustainable and efficient transportation and agricultural practices and protecting and restoring ocean habitats.
Yet some facts and figures on climate change require a bit of informed perspective, which the authors welcome. For instance, their presentation of a popular view of climate change in the 1970s is a bit skewed. I was an undergraduate student of meteorology at Penn State in the mid-’70s, and there was a real concern about the potential of a new ice age. Perhaps a majority of scientists weren’t overly worried that the downward global temperature trend since the 1940s would continue; however, I don’t recall much angst over imminent global warming either.
Also, the public was primed for disastrous cooling, with books confidently stating, “A handful of scientists denied evidence that the Earth’s climate was cooling until the 1970s, when bizarre weather throughout the world forced them to reconsider their views” (from “The Cooling” by Lowell Ponte, 1976). Or “Northern hemisphere temperatures have been falling steadily since the 1940s. Glaciers are advancing once again. Scientists no longer debate the coming of a new ice age: the question now is when?” (from “Our Changing Weather: Forecast of Disaster?” by Claude Rose, 1977).
Furthermore, “Megalodons, Mermaids, and Climate Change” informs that “2023 was the warmest year in recorded history (since the 1940s).” Nevertheless, meteorologist Brian Sussman, in his 2024 book “Climate Cult,” lists 20 U.S. states with record temperatures of at least 109 degrees Fahrenheit, all happening in the 1930s.
Other recent books that provide more perspective on climate change include “Climate and Energy: The Case for Realism,” edited by E. Calvin Beisner and climatologist David R. Legates, “Unsettled: What Climate Science Tells Us, What It Doesn’t, and Why It Matters” by physicist Steven E. Koonin and “The Weaponization of Weather in the Phony Climate War” by meteorologist Joe Bastardi. (I have reviewed each of these creditable books in the Washington Times.)
Regardless, “Megalodons, Mermaids, and Climate Change” shows how creative writing can disseminate complex science topics in a way that can grab the attention of even the most uninitiated reader. I will recommend this book for supplemental reading in my environmental and atmospheric science classes. After all, as the authors encourage in their introduction, this book can be “happy reading” for science students.
• Anthony J. Sadar is a certified consulting meteorologist and an adjunct associate professor of science at Geneva College in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania. He is also co-author of “Environmental Risk Communication: Principles and Practices for Industry” (CRC Press).
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Megalodons, Mermaids, and Climate Change: Answers to Your Ocean and Atmosphere Questions
Ellen Prager and Dave Jones
Columbia University Press, Oct. 22, 2024
248 pages, $24.95
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