A presentation by Dr. Joel N. Myers 
Founder and President, AccuWeather, Inc. 

From the flood of Noah to floods in the days of NOAA, many weather and short-term climate events have transformed history -  changing the results of elections, culture, wars, religion and other human setbacks and advancements. In this presentation, updated since it was a keynote presentation at the American Meteorology Society annual meeting earlier this year, I will examine some of the most important of these events and the impact they have had on humanity. 

The American Revolution, the Napoleonic Wars, and World War II are among the major wars whose winners have been determined or at least strongly aided by weather events.

The painting The Scream and the novel Frankenstein are among the cultural and artistic events that may have been inspired or made possible by weather events. 

The Salem Witch Trials, the invention of the bicycle, and the development of Houston as a major city may have been caused by weather events. 

And, weather or climate changes likely caused the demise of dinosaurs and rise of mammals, Bubonic Plague epidemics that may have killed half the population of some European and African empires, the decline and disappearance of the Mayan Empire, and the three centuries of dominance of the British Empire.