PublishedAustralian Scholarly, April 2017 |
ISBN9781921509384 |
FormatSoftcover, 428 pages |
Dimensions22cm × 18cm × 3cm |
Loss of human life, destruction of crops and pastures, millions of dead animals, economic retardation and denuded landscapes - all these are associated with El Nino events in the early twenty-first century. They are part of our life. What is not so widely recognised is that, while the situation is becoming worse, El Nino events were present throughout the histories of colonial societies in Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific, and had serious and similar impacts.The droughts, floods and cyclones that generally become more frequent and severe during El Nino events severely set back the development of the colonies.
In due course the colonists came better to understand the vagaries of their climates and to develop precautionary measures. Climatic extremes were also incorporated into their cultures and adopted as shaping forces in national character and national history.Droughts, Floods and Cyclones is the most comprehensive study of this phenomenon, examining the impact of a series of El Nino events in Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and French Polynesia in the second half of the nineteenth century.
