CATEGORY FIVE

An examination of the causes of the ever growing number of savage storms.

Fox, author of Northland and The Last Winter, purports to investigate how the proliferation of increasingly dangerous, unpredictable storms is driven by changes in ocean temperatures due to climate change. In particular, there has been a marked increase in Category 5 storms, those with winds of at least 190 miles per hour. Porter is a seasoned writer, and this is an intrinsically important issue, so it’s unfortunate that the narrative continually veers off course. Fox, who has written extensively about wilderness excursions, is an experienced sailor, and much of the text involves his adventures. He devotes considerable time to the mechanics of sailing and the various characters he has met along the way. Some of this material is interesting, especially for fellow sailors, but these discussions are tangential to the theme of ocean temperatures and climate change. A few of Fox’s detours are even more unrelated, such as the chapter about the role a typhoon played in a World War II naval battle. When the author sticks to the topic of climate change, he delivers a variety of useful information, but his tone is often overly alarmist. Fox does provide some interesting nuggets, including the chronic shortfall of funding for ocean research, the innovative use of drones to study storms, and the possible need for a Category 6 designation. By 2030, he writes, “Category 6 typhoons will have devastated a third of Japan, the Philippines, eastern China, Vietnam, South Korea, and Taiwan.” However, many readers may grow weary of digging out the relevant bits. If only the author brought the same level of focus to this book that he did to The Last Winter.

Porter offers intermittent illumination, but a lack of focus leads to a middling book about a crucial subject.