Weather, Climate, Culture

by Strauss, Sarah; Orlove, Benjamin S.

• ISBN13: 9781859736975
• ISBN10: 1859736971
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2003-12-01
• Publisher: Berg Pub Ltd

Summary

Throughout history, the weather has been both feared and revered for its powerful influence over living creatures. Not only does it control our moods, activities, and fashions, but it has also played a crucial role in broader issues of cultural identity, concepts of time, and economic development. In fact, the weather has become so ingrained in our everyday routines that many of us forget just how profoundly this omnipotent force shapes culture. With the continuing rise in global warming and consequential change in weather patterns, our awareness and understanding of this topic has never been so important. This fascinating book is the first to explore our close relationship with the weather. From folklore to visual representations, agricultural and health practices, and unusual weather events, Weather, Climate, Culture demonstrates that the way we discuss and interpret meteorological phenomena concerns not only the events in question but, more complexly, the cultural, political, and historical framework in which we discuss them. Why is it politically safe to discuss current weather conditions, but highly controversial to discuss long-term climate change? Why are the British renowned for talking about the weather and why, in the eighteenth century, was this regarded as genteel? How can accounts of cultural or moral change be associated with narratives of changing climate and vice-versa? Drawing on a wide range of case studies from around the world, this pioneering book provides an original and lively perspective on a subject that continues to have an incalculable impact on the way we live. It will serve as a landmark text for years to come.

Author Biography

Sarah Strauss is Assistant Professor, at the University of Wyoming.

Benjamin S. Orlove is Professor of Environmental Science and Policy, at the University of California, Davis and Adjunct Senior Research Scientist, International Research Institute for Climate Prediction, Columbia University, New York.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements	ix
List of Figures	xi
List of Tables	xiii
Notes on Contributors	xv
Introduction
Up in the Air: The Anthropology of Weather and Climate	3	(14)
Sarah Strauss
Ben Orlove
DAYS
Time, Talk, and the Weather in Eighteenth-Century Britain	17	(22)
Jan Golinski
Weather Wise: Speaking Folklore to Science in Leukerbad	39	(22)
Sarah Strauss
Chesapeake Bay Watermen, Weather, and Blue Crabs: Cultural Models and Fishery Policies	61	(22)
Michael Paolisso
(En)Gendering the Weather: Rainmaking and Reproduction in Tanzania	83	(20)
Todd Sanders
Nice Weather for the Time of Year: The British Obsession with the Weather	103	(18)
Trevor A. Harley
YEARS
How People Name Seasons	121	(20)
Ben Orlove
Monet's 'London Series' and the Cultural Climate of London at the Turn of the Twentieth Century	141	(20)
John E. Thornes
Gemma Metherell
Changing Earth and Sky: Movement, Environmental Variability, and Responses to El Nino in the Pio-Tura Region of Papua New Guinea	161	(20)
David M. Ellis
Meteorological Meanings: Farmers' Interpretations of Seasonal Rainfall Forecasts in Burkina Faso	181	(22)
Carla Roncoli
Keith Ingram
Christine Jost
Paul Kirshen
GENERATIONS
Climate Science and the Policy of Drought Mitigation in Ceara, Northeast Brazil	203	(14)
Timothy J. Finan
Climate and Culture in the North: The Interface of Archaeology, Paleoenvironmental Science, and Oral History	217	(16)
Anne Henshaw
Testing Farmers' Perceptions of Climate Variability: A Case Study from the Sulphur Springs Valley, Arizona	233	(18)
Colin Thor West
Marcela Vasquez-Leon
Mood, Magic, and Metaphor: Allusions to Weather and Climate in the Sagas of Icelanders	251	(26)
Astrid E. J. Ogilvie
Gisli Palsson
AFTERWORD
Domesticating Nature: Commentary on the Anthropological Study of Weather and Climate Discourse	277	(14)
Steve Rayner
Index	291