Could a Storm Destroy the World? | The Vortex Book Trailer

The real danger of climate change isn't losing some beach front property and desertification: it's global thermonuclear war. In 1970 the deadliest storm in history slammed into the coast of what is now Bangladesh and killed an estimated 500,000 people. But that was only the beginning, because that one cyclone set off a set of dominos that almost ended life on the planet. In the two years that followed another 3 million people died in in a genocide, a war broke out between India and Pakistan and the nuclear navies of both the United States and USSR met at an arbitrary line of control in the Bay of Bengal. Both fleets had orders to launch nukes, and the only reason it didn't happen was because the rebels took East Pakistan's capital city of Dacca and ended the war.

As #Ukraine struggles against Russian occupation we are once again on the precipice of armageddon. And it might be the freedom fighters on the front lines who ultimately decide the fate of the planet. In my book The Vortex, at least the good guys won in the end.

Now go pick up a copy and help spread the word.

#WorldWar3 #BangladeshLiberationWar

[brianwilliams]

Came for the storm, stayed for the history. Wild

[sherilynn]

I just finished this book. (Slower reader these days due to eyesight problems.) I'm beyond appalled and had some lifelong illusions shattered. Those poor people. I knew about Stanislav Petrov in 1983, saving the world from all out nuclear war. I was a newlywed living in Turkey and would probably have been one of the first to go in round two.

There was the Cuban Missile Crisis. Apparently we've come very close at other times, maybe many more times. This is the most important thing to talk about. This is the most important political issue and we shove it aside for issues that are completely unimportant compared to a nuclear winter.

Thanks for writing this excellent book. I'm not the sharp critic I once was, but I found the style engaging and the voice consistent. Perhaps it wasn't preachy enough. I did cry several times reading this book. I wish I had heard of Jon and Candy earlier in my life. I've always needed heroes.

[schassis_eddi]

I clicked here to learn about the "deadliest storm in history killed half a million people" but didn't learn much about that natural disaster.

[durgacdks]

When are you getting a movie deal for your book? I'm already imagining the scale of the production. And a very important story that needs to be seen.

[anannyayahoo]

Just Started reading your book, already very much excited to dive into deep.

[kyzf]

Fascinating stuff, and an important lesson from history that chaotic systems can have exponential and unpredictable consequences. The more unstable our climate becomes, the more tenuous our hold on modern civilization. Societies as we know them could collapse in a generation because a previously unknown tipping point is crossed, and we are getting closer and closer to many such potential tipping points.

[ayushkumarjha]

This is so fascinating. I know about the 1971 war but didn't knew about that cyclone.

[sherilynn]

We just bought it. Two readers for the price of one. Thanks. I think. I'm already depressed as hell, is this going to get worse? Nevermind, everything makes it worse!

[sanzidarefin]

Its a great effort but i am respectfully requesting not to call it "civil war". Although media used the term in 1971, it brings out serious reactions from Bangladeshi in this era.

[zamiryi]

Something something climate change something groomers are GUUD !

[TheSpenceFencer]

You are too close to your prompter and watching your eyes read the words is annoying.