Have We "Tamed" the Weather?

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Photo of Greensburg Tornado. Copyright 2007, Rick Schmidt.

The subtitle of Warnings is "The True Story of How Science Tamed the Weather."

An item was posted on Facebook Friday asking, "Science Tamed the Weather?" with a surprised icon.

Answer?  Absolutely!

For example, without today's tornado warning system, there would be an average of 1,100 fatalities due to tornadoes annually in the U.S. 

So far in 2010, there have been 36 fatalities. The total in 2009 was 21. More than 1,000 lives saved each year. We take this accomplishment for granted because we've grown up with TV storm warnings and tornado sirens and, until Warnings, the amazing story of how the warning system came to be had never been told.

And, it is not just tornadoes. Deaths have been markedly reduced in commercial aviation, hurricanes and flash floods.  The story of how this came to be is fascinating (just look at the comments at Amazon). Check it out!

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