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Archive for October 30th, 2012
You can’t blame the superstorm on climate change — not yet
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on October 30th, 2012
Associated Press: Climate scientist Michael Oppenheimer stood along the Hudson River and watched his research come to life as Hurricane Sandy blew through New York.
Just eight months earlier, the Princeton University professor reported that what used to be once-in-a-century devastating floods in New York City would soon happen every three to 20 years. He blamed global warming for pushing up sea levels and changing hurricane patterns.
New York "is now highly vulnerable to extreme hurricane-surge flooding," he...
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Maybe We Should Talk About Climate Change Now
Posted by Esquire: Charles P. Pierce on October 30th, 2012
Esquire: Add Andrew Cuomo of New York to the list of east-coast governors who are willing to acknowledge reality when they wake up and discover that half the Grand Banks has decided to pay a visit inland.
"There has been a series of extreme weather incidents. That is not a political statement, that is a factual statement ... Anyone who says there's not a dramatic change in weather patterns, I think is denying reality," Cuomo said.
And, of course, there is nothing new about any of this.
"Sea level...
How Superstorm Sandy’s Floods Can Make You Sick
Posted by National Geographic: Daniel Stone and Luna Shyr on October 30th, 2012
National Geographic: As much of the U.S. Northeast grapples with the inundation of Hurricane Sandy, the most dramatic photos show standing water filling busy U.S. streets in New York City, New Jersey, and along the coastline.
Public health officials caution that stagnant water from floods can pose significant health risks, many of which can worsen with time. ee "Hurricane Sandy: Why Full Moon Makes 'Frankenstorm' More Monstrous.")
David Doyle, a spokesperson for New York's Office of Emergency Management, cautioned...
Is Climate Change Turning New York Into a Hurricane Hotspot?
Posted by Slate: Will Oremus on October 30th, 2012
Slate: New York isn't known for its hurricanes. At least, it never has been before. But after Irene in 2011 and Sandy in 2012, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said he joked to President Obama that "we have a 100-year flood every two years now.' Is it possible that climate change has somehow turned the Big Apple--and the northeast in general--into a hurricane hotspot?
Possible, perhaps. But the atmospheric scientists I've talked to say it would be misguided to conclude based on those two storms that the northeast...
Sandy Far From Finished: Why Storm’s Still Super, Headed for New Targets
Posted by National Geographic: Willie Drye on October 30th, 2012
National Geographic: What was once Hurricane Sandy has already affected more than 50 million people in 20 eastern U.S. states, leaving millions literally powerless and flooding New York City with a record-breaking storm surge.
But the superstorm, today downgraded to a post-tropical cyclone, isn't finished yet. Sandy's secret? Size matters.
As of 11 a.m. this morning, Sandy was about 120 miles (193 kilometers) east of Pittsburgh and moving westward at about 10 miles (16 kilometers) an hour. Even so, the storm's...
VIDEO: Why did Sandy cause such destruction?
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on October 30th, 2012
BBC: The BBC's Science Editor David Shukman explains why that, despite the US being no stranger to hurricanes and storms, storm Sandy has caused so much damage. At least 32 people have been killed, millions are without power and transport across the north-eastern US has been severely disrupted as the storm heads north for Canada. Sandy brought a record storm surge of almost 14ft (4.2m) to central Manhattan, well above the previous record of 10 feet (3m) during Hurricane Donna in 1960, the National Weather...
Climate Change and Sandy: Why We Need to Prepare for a Warmer World
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on October 30th, 2012
Time: After a campaign season in which it was the missing in action issue, climate change roared back into relevancy in the wake of Hurricane Sandy. Bill McKibben, the writer-turned-activist behind 350.org, put it in stark terms. "This is an absolutely unprecedented storm," he told POLITICO on Monday evening. "This entire year should be a seriously wake-up call--and the public`s beginning to get it."
Some scientists and science writers, however, were just as quick to caution that we can`t really attribute...
Hurricane Sandy Abruptly Puts Climate Change on the Election Agenda
Posted by EcoWatch: Tom Mitchell, Overseas Development Institute on October 30th, 2012
EcoWatch: Last week, both Barack Obama and Mitt Romney stressed their commitment to developing oil and gas to improve energy security. Climate change was not mentioned. This position is senseless. The U.S. Midwest has just experienced the worst drought in 60 years, one which has seen economic growth depressed by 0.4 percent GDP as a result and higher food prices resulting from a 13 percent drop in corn production. As the East Coast slowly emerges from the deluge and debris of the past 24 hours, the job of...
Hurricane Sandy: A Disaster Foretold
Posted by Climate Desk: None Given on October 30th, 2012
Climate Desk: In 2007, I published a book called Storm World: Hurricanes, Politics, and the Battle Over Global Warming. It was inspired by what my family had been through in Hurricane Katrina (I`m from New Orleans), but at the end, I looked forward to what other families and other cities might have to experience--if we don`t start to think in a much broader way about our society`s stunning vulnerability to hurricane disasters.
As I wrote:
Even as we act immediately to curtail short term vulnerability, every...
Here’s The Mountain Of Evidence Linking Climate Change To Bigger Storms
Posted by Business Insider: Jennifer Welsh on October 30th, 2012
Business Insider: Data from monitoring stations along the Eastern Seaboard of the United States, where the daily tide levels have been recorded all the way back to 1923.
The huge superstorm Sandy has left a path of destruction across the Eastern seaboard and everyone's wondering -- was this insanely intense storm that some are calling a once a century event related to climate change?
Some researchers will say yes, it's likely that the two are related. Their theory goes that warmer waters inject more energy into...