Rain : a natural and cultural history / Cynthia Barnett.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Barnett, Cynthia, 1966- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Rain and rainfall.

Weather.

Rainfall anomalies.

Droughts.

Physical geography.

Climatic changes.

Earth sciences.

Physical Description:

355 pages ; 24 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

New York : Crown Publishers, [2015]

Summary:

Cynthia Barnett's "Rain "begins four billion years ago with the torrents that filled the oceans, and builds to the storms of climate change. It weaves together science--the true shape of a raindrop, the mysteries of frog and fish rains--with the human story of our ambition to control rain, from ancient rain dances to the 2,203 miles of levees that attempt to straitjacket the Mississippi River. As climate change upends rainfall patterns and unleashes increasingly severe storms and drought, Barnett shows rain to be a unifying force in a fractured world.

Contents:

Origins

Elemental rain. Cloudy with a chance of civilization ; Drought, deluge, and devilry ; Praying for rain

Chance of rain. The weather watchers ; The articles of rain

American rain. Founding forecaster ; Rain follows the plow ; The rainmakers

Capturing the rain. Writers on the storm ; The scent of rain ; City rains

Mercurial rain. Strange rain ; And the forecast calls for change

Waiting for rain.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780804137096

0804137099

9780804137119

0804137110

OCLC:

890377468