The Weather of the Future: Heat Waves, Extreme Storms, and Other Scenes from a Climate-Changed Planet

“A scorching vision of what life might be like in the warmer world that is already on its way. "  — Michiko Kakutani, New York Times

“Vivid and compelling, this book shows what life will be like in a warming world. Essential reading for anyone who’s planning to inhabit the planet for the next few decades.”  — Elizabeth Kolbert, author of Field Notes from a Catastrophe

From Heidi Cullen, one of America’s foremost experts on weather and climate change and a senior research scientist with Climate Central, a fascinating and provocative book that predicts what different parts of the world will look like in the year 2050 if current levels of carbon emissions are maintained.

Dr. Heidi Cullen, one of the world’s foremost climatologists and environmental journalists, offers a new way of viewing the climate-change phenomenon, not as some future event but as something happening right now in our own backyard. In this groundbreaking, provocative work, Dr. Cullen combines the latest scientific research with state-of-the-art climate-model projections to create climate-change scenarios for seven of the most at-risk locations around the globe.

From the Central Valley of California, where coming droughts will jeopardize the entire state’s water supply, to New York City, whose infrastructure is extremely vulnerable to even a relatively weak Category 3 hurricane, to Greenland, where warmer temperatures will give access to mineral wealth buried beneath ice sheets for millennia, Cullen illustrates how, if left unabated, climate change will transform every corner of the world by midcentury—and no two regions will be affected in quite the same way.

Dr. Heidi Cullen, one of the world’s foremost climatologists and environmental journalists, offers a new way of viewing the climate-change phenomenon, not as some future event but as something happening right now in our own backyard. In this groundbreaking, provocative work, Dr. Cullen combines the latest scientific research with state-of-the-art climate-model projections to create climate-change scenarios for seven of the most at-risk locations around the globe.

From the Central Valley of California, where coming droughts will jeopardize the entire state’s water supply, to New York City, whose infrastructure is extremely vulnerable to even a relatively weak Category 3 hurricane, to Greenland, where warmer temperatures will give access to mineral wealth buried beneath ice sheets for millennia, Cullen illustrates how, if left unabated, climate change will transform every corner of the world by midcentury—and no two regions will be affected in quite the same way.

“Vivid and compelling, this book shows what life will be like in a warming world. Essential reading for anyone who’s planning to inhabit the planet for the next few decades.” - Elizabeth Kolbert, author of Field Notes from a Catastrophe

In this important and timely book, Heidi Cullen breaks ground...simplifying the connection between weather and climate and bringing the true impact of the problem, literally, right to your front door. - Laurie David, Academy Award winning producer of An Inconvenient Truth

“A scorching vision of what life might be like in the warmer world that is already on its way. “Although “Weather of the Future” sounds like an exercise in speculation, Ms. Cullen grounds her harrowing predictions - extrapolations, really - in “the best available science” derived from an array of climate models, environmental data and interviews with scientists. And her forecasts actually turn out to be an armature for discussing the fallout of climate change (from rising sea levels to more extreme weather) in an accessible, tactile fashion and for examining existing liabilities in various regions and cities, like overstretched infrastructure and dwindling water supplies.” - Michiko Kakutani, New York Times

“A scorching vision of what life might be like in the warmer world that is already on its way. ” - Michiko Kakutani, New York Times

“This is a woman to whom attention must be paid.” - Booklist

“Engrossing…the book presents a surprisingly optimistic view of humanity’s determination to come to terms with a daunting future.” - Publishers Weekly

“Heidi Cullen’s beautifully crafted study provides the human detail that has been missing from most reports on climate science…Cullen’s sense of place is also exceptional; her climate scenarios are rooted in local landscapes and societies as much as in global models. This book sets a new benchmark for accessible writing on the likely weather of the future.” - New Scientist

“Heidi Cullen’s beautifully crafted study provides the human detail that has been missing from most reports on climate science…This book sets a new benchmark for accessible writing on the likely weather of the future.” - New Scientist

“In an accessible way, [Cullen] details the Earth’s climate history and forecasts what might happen if we’re not more careful.” - New York Post

“[Cullen] accepts weather as a local matter, just as Tip O’Neill, longtime speaker of the House of Representatives, proclaimed all politics to be local…The Weather of the Future,” uses a broad itinerary to illustrate the threats she perceives. It predicts more frequent and more violent storms, more hot spells, cold spells, droughts, famines and huge waves of desperate refugees…Cullen is likely to attract readers with an insistent style and quotes from people who claim to have been already damaged by global warming.” - Lisa Ko, author of The Leavers

“[Cullen] accepts weather as a local matter, just as Tip O’Neill, longtime speaker of the House of Representatives, proclaimed all politics to be local...The Weather of the Future,” uses a broad itinerary to illustrate the threats she perceives.” - Lisa Ko, author of The Leavers

“Fact-filled and entertaining yet disturbing depiction of our world as temperatures rise...A lively and troubling but not entirely doomsday scenario of our warmer future.” - Kirkus Reviews