Hunting for Hurricanes
(2021)(A book in the Storm Wranglers series)
A novel by Daniel Cohan and Coert Voorhees
The Storm Wranglers are an elementary school science fair powerhouse, a diverse team of budding scientists mentored by an eccentric climate scientist who sees in them hope for the future of humanity and the planet. Using scientific data to travel through time and space, these brilliant youngsters witness firsthand the effects of the earth’s changing climate..
Motivated by the effects of Hurricane Harvey on their families and their city, the Houston-based team has chosen hurricane science as the subject of their latest project. At the behest of their advisor, Mr. Kim, the team joins forces with the eccentric climate scientist Dr. Daniela Carter. With Dr. Carter’s help, they dive directly into the historical scientific data and travel all the way back to Galveston’s Great Storm of 1900, which is still the deadliest and costliest storm in United States history.
After observing the storm and its destructive effects firsthand, they use present-day climate data to model what the Great Storm of 1900 might have looked like in today’s environment. After some analysis, they apply the same modeling techniques to 2017’s Hurricane Harvey, comparing the actual storm with a model of what Harvey might have looked like had the sea levels, the global average temperature, and the ocean surface temperature been at the projected levels of the year 2100. Along the way, they observe how hurricanes are formed, hypothesize how various factors might influence the storms’ destructive power, and reach conclusions about the potential effects of our changing climate on the hurricanes of the future.
Storm Wranglers is written in collaboration with Professor Daniel Cohan, Ph.D., Rice University’s leading atmospheric scientist, and contains four pages of nonfiction back matter that explores in greater detail the scientific concepts covered in the story. Standards-aligned educational resources, such as lesson plans, experiments, and other activities, will be developed in collaboration with the Rice University Office of K12 STEM Engagement.
Genre: Children's Fiction
Motivated by the effects of Hurricane Harvey on their families and their city, the Houston-based team has chosen hurricane science as the subject of their latest project. At the behest of their advisor, Mr. Kim, the team joins forces with the eccentric climate scientist Dr. Daniela Carter. With Dr. Carter’s help, they dive directly into the historical scientific data and travel all the way back to Galveston’s Great Storm of 1900, which is still the deadliest and costliest storm in United States history.
After observing the storm and its destructive effects firsthand, they use present-day climate data to model what the Great Storm of 1900 might have looked like in today’s environment. After some analysis, they apply the same modeling techniques to 2017’s Hurricane Harvey, comparing the actual storm with a model of what Harvey might have looked like had the sea levels, the global average temperature, and the ocean surface temperature been at the projected levels of the year 2100. Along the way, they observe how hurricanes are formed, hypothesize how various factors might influence the storms’ destructive power, and reach conclusions about the potential effects of our changing climate on the hurricanes of the future.
Storm Wranglers is written in collaboration with Professor Daniel Cohan, Ph.D., Rice University’s leading atmospheric scientist, and contains four pages of nonfiction back matter that explores in greater detail the scientific concepts covered in the story. Standards-aligned educational resources, such as lesson plans, experiments, and other activities, will be developed in collaboration with the Rice University Office of K12 STEM Engagement.
Genre: Children's Fiction
Used availability for Coert Voorhees's Hunting for Hurricanes