Tracking the Literature of Tropical Weather: Typhoons, Hurricanes, and Cyclones

Abstract

On a global scale, tropical cyclones are the deadliest and most costly of all "natural" disasters. In Australia, they account for over 35% of "deaths from natural hazards" and, between 1967 and 1999, cost on average AUD $266 million per year. With global population trending to reach 9 billion by 2100 and expected to lead to significant increases in coastal development, the worldwide damage from cyclones-currently USD $26 billion-is set to be more than double in the next century. Taking climate change into account, researchers estimate that it may well quadruple to USD $109 billion by 2100. 'Tracking the Literature of Tropical Weather' aims to track-across history and cultures-ways in which writers have imagined tropical cyclones.