Sandy: Wake-up

Found a good article about Sandy that puts some numbers to relavent information.

The author draws lines between hurricanes Sandy and Katrina in discussion of the idiot way we chose to live in such low lying coastal areas, when hurricanes are an annual affair.

Sandy looks to be one of the most costly storms in U.S. history. With a massive part of our financial and cultural center on the east coast, how can we cope with such destruction.

The author of the article moves to relating climate change to the occurance of two major storms clustered in the span of less than a decade,

"How, at this point, can anyone deny the scientific consensus about climate change? The traditional dodge — that no single weather event can definitively be attributed to global warming — doesn’t work anymore. If something looks, walks and quacks like a duck, it’s a duck. Especially if the waterfowl in question is floating through your living room."

Some facts that the author lists:
Katrina Costs:$100 Billion
Sandy Estimated Costs: $50 Billion
Insured Propery Value along East coast: $9 Trillion
~50% of All americans live within 50 miles of the sea
~1 in 3 Live in a coastal county
That's 41 Million on Atlantic Sea Board
and 14 Million on the Gulf Coast (and rising)

These facts, valid or not, bring up interesting reflection points and also provide intersting apocolyptic 'what-if' situations.


http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/eugene-robinson-will-hurricane-sandy-be-our-wake-up-call/2012/11/01/eb50acd6-2447-11e2-ac85-e669876c6a24_story.html