Aftermath of H. Sandy

CNN on October 31. “Is Sandy a Taste of What’s To Come? Lead paragraph:

” We should not be surprised. That’s the view of many climate scientists as they survey the destruction wrought by the superstorm that ravaged the Northeast this week. The melting of Arctic ice, rising sea levels, the warming atmosphere and changes to weather patterns are a potent combination likely to produce storms and tidal surges of unprecedented intensity, according to many experts.”

In the NY Times, Oct. 31,  The warnings came, again and again.

For nearly a decade, scientists have told city and state officials that New York faces certain peril: rising sea levels, more frequent flooding and extreme weather patterns. The alarm bells grew louder after Tropical Storm Irene last year, when the city shut down its subway system and water rushed into the Rockaways and Lower Manhattan.

With an almost eerie foreshadowing, the dangers laid out by scientists as they tried to press public officials for change in recent years describes what happened this week: Subway tunnels filled with water, just as they warned. Tens of thousands of people in Manhattan lost power. The city shut down.

Leadership during Disasters:

An interesting article about 3 styles of leadership, from elected officials interested in higher office.

Other articles on disaster and leadership include: The 2011 paper published in the American Journal of Political Science called “Make It Rain? Retrospection and the Attentive Electorate in the Context of Natural Disasters.” The authors claim “…electorates punish presidents and governors for severe weather damage.”

More on the Superstorm in a Climate Context, by Andrew Revkin, NYTimes blogger. October 31.

Related articles

• Yes, Hurricane Sandy is a good reason to worry about climate change (washingtonpost.com)