The winds of change : climate, weather, and the destruction of civilizations / Eugene Linden.

Includes index.

A matter of emphasis -- The deep past : climate as creator -- Destroyer -- The first victim -- Weapons of mass destruction : disease, migration, conflict, and famine -- Empty promises of water : the collapse of the Mayans -- The Little Ice Age : five hundred years of climate chaos -- Climate comes into focus -- The gears of global climate -- Proxy wars I : ice -- Proxy wars II : mud -- The mystery of Tell Leilan -- Scorched Earth -- Is it Little Ice Age, or ages? -- El Niǫ : how it works -- El Niǫ meets empire -- A taste of things to come? -- The tides of public opinion -- Water moving through water -- Going forward -- Sea change : afterword to the paperback edition -- Chronology : the accelerating pace of climate change and scientific discovery