The Surge The Race Against the Most Destructive Force in Nature

About this book

The Surge is a timely, gripping account of humanity's battle against rising waters – and the urgent choices we must make for our future.

Rising waters are flooding cities and homes across the globe, from Florida to Nepal. By 2050, 150 million people will live below the high tide line, facing an uncertain future as cities like London and Shanghai grapple with worsening floods. In this timely, panoramic and gripping book, climate editor Jeevan Vasagar traces humanity's responses to flooding over the centuries, from the deadly North Sea floods of 1953 to the catastrophic events of today.

He explores the costly and complicated choices governments face: fight the water with ever-expanding defences, or adapt and move? Drawing on groundbreaking engineering solutions, Vasagar argues for a radical rethink – combining resistance and accommodation as we reimagine our cities. A stark warning, but also a message of hope, The Surge is essential reading for understanding how climate change is reshaping our world – and what we can do about it.

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Biography

Jeevan Vasagar is Climate Editor at The Observer. He is an award-winning journalist and author, a former foreign correspondent in Singapore for the Financial Times, where he reported on international money-laundering and clashes within the country's political dynasty. Before that, he was a correspondent for the FT in Berlin, and for The Guardian in Nairobi, where he reported on the war in Darfur, corruption in Kenya and a stolen election in Zimbabwe. He is the author of Lion City: Singapore and the Invention of Modern Asia.