Heavy Weather (Sterling novel)

Heavy Weather is a science fiction novel by Bruce Sterling, first published in 1994, about a group of storm chasers in a world where global warming has produced incredibly destructive weather.

Heavy Weather
First edition
AuthorBruce Sterling
Cover artistJamie S. Warren Youll
LanguageEnglish
GenreScience fiction
PublisherBantam Spectra
Publication date
September 1994
Publication placeUnited States
Media typePrint (hardback)
Pages310
ISBN0-553-09393-2
OCLC30075317
813/.54 20
LC ClassPS3569.T3876 H4 1994

Plot summary

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Set in the year 2031, Heavy Weather depicts a world where mankind has unbalanced the world's ecosystem with their continuing production of greenhouse gases and unchecked expansion. As a result, the weather has become unpredictable and dangerous. Powerful storms routinely leave trails of devastation in their wake. Alex Unger, a young man suffering from numerous medical problems, is liberated from an illegal Mexican clinic by his sister Janey and brought back to America to her group of friends and colleagues, the Storm Troupe. The Troupe are dedicated and knowledgeable storm chasers who use high technology to document and research the weather, led by Janey's lover, the charismatic and brilliant scientist Jerry Mulcahey. They are preparing to meet an F-6, a storm of truly monstrous proportions.

The novel deals with scenarios directly extrapolated from emergent issues relevant to the time frame of its creation, such as antibiotic resistant disease,[1] climate change,[2] and social collapse due to monetary disintegration[3] among others.

References

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  1. ^ U.S. Congress, Office of Technology Assessment, Impacts of Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria, OTA-H-629 (Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, September 1995)
  2. ^ Consortium for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN). 1995. Thematic Guide to Integrated Assessment Modeling of Climate Change [online]. University Center, Mich. CIESIN URL: http://sedac.ciesin.org/mva/iamcc.tg/TGHP.html
  3. ^ Glyn, Andrew (1995) : Social democracy and full employment, Discussion paper // Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für Sozialforschung, Forschungsschwerpunkt Arbeitsmarkt und Beschäftigung, Abteilung Wirtschaftswandel und Beschäftigung, No. FS I 95-302, http://hdl.handle.net/10419/44095
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