Rating: 
Summary: WELL WORTH READING!!!
Review: EVEN THOUGH BELL AND STREIBER ARE NOT CLIMATOLOGISTS THEY PUT FORTH A GOOD ARGUMENT FOR DOING SOMETHING ABOUT GLOBAL WARMING AND A RECENT PBS SPECIAL ON GLOBAL WARMING ... CONFIRMED WHAT THE AUTHORS SAID ABOUT EGYPT HAVING ENOUGH RAINFALL TO ERODE THE SPHHINX 11,000 YEARS AGO(PAGE 34) SINCE THEY HAVE BEEN PROVEN CORRECT ABOUT THE PAST, SHOULD WE DOUBT WHAT THEY SAY ABOUT THE FUTURE?
I WOULD NOT BET MY LIFE ON IT!
IN "RACE TO SAVE THE PLANET" ON PBS (MAY 2002), SCIENTISTS SHOWED VIA A COMPUTER MODEL THAT, 11,000 YEARS AGO (9,000 BC), THE ENTIRE NORTH AFRICA AND MIDDLE EAST HAD MONSOONS DUE TO THE INCLINATION OF THE EARTH'S AXIS BEING OPPOSITE THAT OF TODAY'S, CAUSING NORTHERN SUMMERS WHEN THE EARTH IS CLOSEST TO THE SUN.
(NOW, SUMMERS IN THE NORTHER HEMISPHERE HAPPEN WHEN EARTH IS FAREST FROM THE SUN - THE AXIS POINTS THE NORTH TOWARD THE SUN CAUSING SUMMER)
THE REAL SCARY PART OF THE BOOK IS THAT WE ARE, IN EFFECT PERFORMING A GIANT EXPERIMENT ON THE ONLY ATMOSPHERE WE HAVE.
THE ABOVE PBS SPECIAL INDICATED THER IS A FIFTY-PER CENT CHANCE OF INSIGNIFICANT GLOBAL WARMING BUT A FIFTY-PER CENT CHANCE THAT AVERAGE GLOBAL TEMPEREATURES IN THE NEXT 100 YEARS WILL INCREASE BY NINE DEGREES FARENHEIT, AN INCREASE WHICH PREVIOUSLY TOOK 10,000 YEARS.
THE THINGS I DO NOT LIKE ABOUT THE BOOK ARE ITS LACK OF A BIBLIOGRAPHY AND NO FOOTNOTES TO BACK UP CHANGES THAT HAVE TAKEN PLACE. (I.E. ON PAGE 132 THEY SAY THAT "THE STRATOSPHERE, WHICH IS USUALLY ABOUNT MINUS 50 DEGREES FAHRENHEIT, HAD DROPPED TO MINUS 80 DEGREES BY 1999")
IN ADDITION, ON PAGE 132 THEY SAY "NOW, THE STRATOSPHERE IS RUNNING AT AN AVERAGE 0F MINUS 100 DEGREES" IS THAT "NOW" IN 2000 WHEN THE BOOK WAS WRITEEN, OR IN THE FUTURE, SINCE IT WAS ONE OF THOSE CHAPTERS DEALING WITH THE FUTURE?
HAVING SAID THAT, ALL THE STEPS NEEDED TO STOP GLOBAL WARMING ARE GOOD, IN AND OF THE SELVES (I.E. INCREASE GAS MILEAGE, ETC.)
EVEN IF GLOBAL WARMING NEVER BECOMES SERIOUS.
ON THE OTHER HAND, IF THE AUTHORS ARE CORRECT, AND THE COMING "GLOBAL SUPERSTORM" TAKES US BY SUPRISE, YOU WILL NOT HAVE TIME TO TRADE IN THE SUV FOR A PRIUS. IF YOU LIVE NORTH OF THE DENVER-VIRGINIA LINE, YOU WILL NEED THAT SUV TO MOVE SOUTH - IMMEDIATELY! OR DIE!
THE PEOPLE WHO SAY WE CAN CHANGE OUR BEHAVIOUR WHEN THE EVIDENCE IS CONCLUSIVE WILL HAVE LED US DOWN A DEAD END.
BUT THERE WILL BE NO TIME TO ARGUE ABOUT IT.
Rating: 
Summary: Paranoia and Junk Science!
Review: Strieber who made his career based on being abducted by aliens, which now he's not sure who abducted him or if he really was abducted has no credibility. None! Art Bell is an alarmist radio jock from the same mold as Jerry Springer. Superstorm is not even good science fiction. It is laughable, speculative, junk science, and urban legends all thrown together. When Art Bell first started his show he had real scientists, insiders, researchers and whistle blowers with credibility as guests. Now his guests have no credibility and I expect any day he will start having delusional street people on his show. I can say Bell and Streber are two of the most boring and egotistical people on the radio. Listen to their shows and see if they have any guests who are ever on the best-seller list or even in the top 10 thousand on amazon. But you think they have credibility? If you are a fan of the carney Art Bell and his radio circus, then buy it to complete your collection. If you are looking for a well researched and documented book on conspiracies then check out ANY book by Jim Marrs (Crossfire & Alien Agenda), Brad Steiger (Rainbow Conspiracy and Alien Rapture), or Z. Sitchin (The 12th Planet plus many more), all bestselling authors who's careers and reputation have stood the test of time. I'm talking over a hundred years of continuous writing and being published combined. Whitley is just hanging on Art's coattails as his career continues to decline, this book is a perfect follow-on to the equally vapid "Quickening". Like Art Bell-this book sparks interest and the falls into boring rehitoric and self endulging doom and gloom that deserves to be in the shredder. I am one of those who feel betrayed by Bell who continues to give us schlock with no substance. These books are like his shows. He only shows up part time and still has the audacity to put his name on it. He is a sell out and I feel like I was robbed of my money. Well fool me once Mr. Bell (The Art of Talk) Fool me twice (the Quickening) and now you are out with this bathroom reader. I wouldn't buy this book and didn't. Thanks to a friend who will read any type paranoid conspiracy dribble, I borrowed it. Can you imagine a movie out of this, would be like 'The Return of the Mummies.'
Rating:
Summary: Not science, just plain trash.
Review: It's distressing to know that Barnum was right about one being born each minute. Otherwise, how does one account for the sale of a book that is a mixture of sensationalism, half-truth, and plain fabrication? Anyone with the slightest knowledge of weather knows the scenario of ten feet of ice and all that other glop is impossible under the laws of physics. Equally, one supposes that if all the blocks from all the as-yet unexplained megaliths were stacked on end, we could probably rebuild the Trade Center. But what would it all prove? Nothing, of course, and that's just what this exercise in wasting valuable paper does as well, in terms of climate studies. The book has its value, though, in that it does show the Dark Ages, where superstition reigned and truth hid, are never that far away. The authors should go back to tossing burnt sheep bones and reading tea leaves, and not masquarade as scientific seers...What a commentary on our educational system! I weep for the future.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting,only somewhat trashy but enjoyable pseudoscience
Review: Like a poor man's Carl Sagan, Strieber and Bell have taken the hot debate over global warming and condensed it into a highly-readable tome of disaster fiction. At first I was surprised by the tenor and the lack of sensationalistic flag-waving. However, I became quickly concerned this was going to be another "Chariots of the Gods" disaster when I started reading about their hypothesis regarding ancient civilizations lost to the sands of time. It seemed to me like a souped-up, repackaged version of the same tripe that Von Daaniken or the Atlantis researchers are serving up. Why can't ancient man be capable of ingenuity? Does he always have to be subservient to some greater civilization? I was also concerned with the lack of a bibliography, as should any reader, considering a book purported to be based on solid science. I'd especially like more data regarding some of the archeological claims, regarding the mammoths and some of the ruins mentioned in the book. Their hypothesis regarding the Zodiac, and myth, as narrative devices to warn future generations of impending doom is also scant and hardly explained at all (WTF is all that nonsense regarding "Hamlet's Mill" ?!?) Weak reasoning and scant evidence make for a weak hypothesis. End of story? Not necessarily, it is an interesting and important topic, and the fictional narrative manages to entertain without being too incredibly hokey...its a good literary device to keep your attention while sifting through the chattier normal passages. They definitely know their audience. The climate-related research, while obviously speculative in the conclusions area, seems to be solid (at least they are citing actual scientists and real climate organizations instead of fringe people like Graham Hancock). The "hope for humanity" chapter is quite gushy and ends the book with a hopeful, humanist note, citing many of the environmental "accomplishments" we have made as US and world citizens, while rightfully condemning our opposition to Kyoto (Bush's tax incentives for corporations voluntarily reducing emissions is the most cockamamie legistlative compromise I have seen).
Rating: 
Summary: Chaos Theory ?
Review: An entertaining read for believers in the chaos theory or
The quickening school of thought. Gives one something
to ponder.
Rating:
Summary: Don't be duped by this garbage
Review: Regarding the frozen mammoths, Discovery Channel Canada's website had this to say: "First, were the mammoths quick-frozen? No. Almost all of the frozen specimens found so far have been rotten, and in some cases, mutilated by scavengers before freezing. Even the ground around the aforementioned Beresovka mammoth, as well as the mammoth's flesh, stunk of decay. Had freezing been instantaneous, no decay would have occurred." "They died, not by freezing, but by asphyxiation. Evidence for that is the discovery of vessels still filled with coagulated blood..." "Second, the stomach contents. Turns out both the Mamontova and Beresovka mammoths had eaten a variety of plants, including grasses, sedges and other tundra plants, as well as the cones and twigs of northern trees. Overall these plants represent a flora that would exist in slightly warmer and wetter conditions than exist in Siberia today, but such conditions are well within the climatic variability of the past." "Finally the numbers of frozen mammoths don't support the idea of a catastrophe. It's been estimated that there might have been about 50,000 mammoths living in the Arctic, while something like forty have been found frozen. Hardly the signs of a cataclysmic event." The evidence speaks for istself.
Rating:
Summary: Something to think about
Review: I'd just like to say that the people who didn't like this book are probably to entrenched in their daily lives to see what is going wrong in the world. It's important to remember that business is not the ultimate level of reality and that humans, as animals, are a part of nature. Though the views presented in this book are extreme, they do give a warning. Hopefully someone will listen instead of buying an SUV.
Rating:
Summary: Recycle This Book
Review: I bought this expecting some science, some facts, some hard information. Instead, I got "lost" civilizations, fuzzy facts, and (this was probably Strieber's contribution) a passable bit of science fiction. Pass on the book and stick to Weekly World News.
Rating: 
Summary: Passable fiction, but not good science
Review: This book takes yelling, "Fire!" in a crowd to a new level. Using a combination of vague references to unknown writers, clearly slanted style, and half-science, this book is clearly commercial in intent and seeks to capitalize on the "Sky is falling" mentality that was so evident before Y2K. The authors are more interested in making money than real science, so save your money unless you just want a provacative story about what if the weather really did go crazy.
Rating:
Summary: Science Fiction at its finest
Review: If you like science fiction, you will appreciate this zany, imaginative, well-written book. If you're looking for solid information and logical reasoning--don't waste your time. This book is for all the people who were disappointed when the world didn't end with the Millenium. Now they have new disasters to look forward to!
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