Let me tell you a tale of war, influenza, and strange climate events that are sure to set your hair on end. But this is not a fictional story to scare and entertain; it is a historical reality that, with the work of scientists at the University of Colorado, Boulder, Texas A&M University, and the University of Maryland has been clearly established.
The story begins in late 1917. The Great War was dragging into its fourth year in Europe and Russia. An influenza pandemic began draping a curtain of death across the world. Four countries became embroiled in revolutions, and India experienced the worst drought on record. This last event–and perhaps some of the others–may have been influenced by an inconspicuous warm patch of water in the central equatorial Pacific Ocean, where a strong El Niño began to brew.
EarthSpin 