Comments on: Numbers, Pictures, Climate Change: Stories From Sandy

By: john malone

john malone — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 03:34:25 +0000

great photos — and thanks for subscribing to my blog

By: Suk Ording

Suk Ording — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 11:40:26 +0000

I live in S. Ca and have been prepared for the Big One for many years. I asked neighbors if they had stored food and water and all of them said they could last two to three days. I don’t mention that I have 25 five gallon water bottles and stored food enough to last me at least two years or more. I tell these neighbors to look at what others are going through and still none of these people prepare for what very well could be the next big disaster in the U.S. of A. Our drought of this past summer was manmade. You all can see that for yourself by looking up into the sky above your own city and seeing jets spraying chemtrails and those change weather patterns. Nov. 1st there must of been a few hundred of these streaks over S. CA and none the day before and none today. It is so right in your face now that you can’t say the government isn’t causing these terrible weather disasters. They have their hands bloodied and will have more on their hands when this kind of disaster goes global.

By: Jean Molénat

Jean Molénat — Sat, 03 Nov 2012 21:12:47 +0000

just a suggestion. It might be interesting to congratulate big coal, big oil and big gas corporations because their Super Storm Sandy has been a Super Strong Success. Jean Molénat.

By: Patrick W

Patrick W — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 15:15:33 +0000

David H –
I think you are arguing semantics, and Ms. Greenwood was quite clear. Your last paragraph “… mercury in sea water…” is just nonsense trying to de-legitimize a real phenomenon. Obviously the severity and frequency of destructive weather phenomena has been increasing recently. Whether this is caused by man or due to some other reason can be argued, but you can’t bury your head in the sand and pretend that our weather, especially in North America is not changing.
Danial Greensburg –
The track of a storm is just as much a part of the storm system as its strength. It is unusual for hurricanes to be hitting land this far north, which provides the opportunity for the storm to be compounded by the effect of combining with a cold northern front. I see no inconsistency in assuming that the track of a storm can be influenced by climate change, any more than the existence and strength of the storm itself.

By: David H

David H — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 10:08:00 +0000

Ms. Greenwood,
You say that “there is no mention of climate change causing Sandy”, yet the post states “if you’re using that question [Did climate change cause Sandy?]as a proxy to really ask, “Is climate change real and do I have to care about it?” well, good news! We have enough information to answer your question. And the answer is, emphatically, yes.” You also let your readers know that “Quartz news reporter Chris Mims thoughtfully addressed how climate change fed into Sandy” and provide a link to the article. (An article thoughtfully titled “How Global Warming Helped Transform Sandy from a Hurricane into a Frankenstorm”.)
If there is no evidence of climate change causing Sandy, then what was the point of even mentioning climate change in the post? The only reason is to link this storm to climate change in the readers’ minds. If there is no causal relationship, and you really want to say that, it should be spelled out clearly. Something like, “Some people may wonder if Sandy was caused by climate change, and the answer is: no one knows; this is only one storm.” That would be clear. Including a passage like “Is climate change real…the answer is, emphatically, yes” in a post that supposedly does not link the storm and climate change appears to be making a link on the sly. You can defend the article by saying that, technically, it never actually said the two were linked, but putting the two in the same article does link them for the reader.
If you are going to include items in a post about the storm that are not related to it, why stop at climate change? Why not address other things that didn’t cause the storm? How about a link to an article about acid rain or mercury in sea water or undersea earthquakes? None of those things caused the storm either. What is the purpose of making links to articles about climate change, including one that specifically links the storm and climate change, if, as you say, “the post says specifically that there is no way to make that kind of claim [to link climate change and Sandy]”?

By: Jerry Chase

Jerry Chase — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 03:10:16 +0000

While Sandy is a real story, the human reaction and non-reaction is perhaps an even larger and sadder story. There was roughly a week of advance notice that this storm was going to be serious, with such noted weathercasters as Bryan Norcross weighing in. Having followed his superb reporting during Andrew and other storms such as Katrina, I was dumbfounded to again find that people simply do not learn until they are FORCED into learning firsthand by pain.

I remember personally seeing unprepared people lined up for bottled water the DAY after hurricane Wilma in Florida. It was broadcast on national news, so millions of others got to see that as well. I remember the long gas lines I saw while riding around on my bicycle after the storm. I remember the state of Florida requiring gas stations to have some sort of backup power after that debacle.

Even after the experience of major storms and knowledge derived from them, many in the areas affected by Sandy repeated those same mistakes, although the effort required to fill their gas tank BEFORE a storm was minimal, and keeping a few cans of food and bottles of water has never been rocket science.

I am so sorry that people have to go though such suffering, but I just cannot understand why so many who could so easily have avoided problems did nothing to prepare. There is an article on human nature to be written there.

In the meantime, WHEN will ephemeral construction on the shifting sands of barrier islands be banned, and the land turned back to nature or much needed parkland? And when will disaster preparedness be taught in schools as a required course?

By: Veronique Greenwood

Veronique Greenwood — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 15:11:26 +0000

Daniel, I’m not sure if you read the post before commenting.

If you read it, you’ll that there is no mention of climate change causing Sandy. In fact, the post says specifically that there is no way to make that kind of claim.

Sandy is merely consistent with the changes scientists expect if seas are warming, etc. Thus, it is in line with what we would expect with climate change.

Thanks for your comment.

By: marcel

marcel — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 15:04:18 +0000

I don’t think this is quite right (but I only play a climatologist in TV): I heard that because of arctic melting, and the resulting lower ocean salinity off southern Greenland, hurricanes are (more often) blocked from going NE up the coast and instead are (more often) forced west, inland, a la Sandy. If anyone with knowledge can present some useful information, that would be useful.

By: Chuck Currie

Chuck Currie — Wed, 31 Oct 2012 20:44:21 +0000

I’m perplexed at why everyone is so perplexed by rising sea levels – the Dutch figured out the solution centuries ago. And, they’ve never put a man on the moon.

Also, I agree completely with Daniel.

Cheers

By: DanielGreensburg

DanielGreensburg — Wed, 31 Oct 2012 18:18:38 +0000

We’re only talking about a Cat 1 storm system…we’ve had numerous storms that have been far stronger (Cat 3′s and higher) out in the Atlantic which never make landfall (as we do every single year). The killer with Sandy was the track of the storm running along the east coast, meandering on and offshore, and merging with two other cold-air systems…not wind or any other features one would see with a stronger storm…the track is the reason why so much damage was caused. To assume that climate change is responsible for the track Sandy took is an absolutely absurd claim. Put a Cat 2-5 storm in the same path this storm took, merge it with two other cold-air systems, and Sandy looks like a walk in the park.

Aside from that…climate takes place over the course of decades…weather is day to day. Unless Sandy has been churning up in the Atlantic for the past few decades, climate change has nothing to do with this storm. We have had Category 1 storms for hundreds of thousands of years…what we’ve never had was overpopulation in severely hurricane-prone areas like this before. …And I am just assuming we are talking about human-induced climate change, since the Earth’s climates are constantly changing naturally.