Hurricane Sandy on October 29, 2012. Flickr user: NASA Goddard Photo and Video.
Hey climate change skeptics: do you still doubt that climate change is real? Hurricane Sandy (a.k.a. Frankenstorm) is decimating the East Coast, and according to scientists, is clear evidence of global warming and its tragic effects. The East Coast is under water, transportation has come to a halt, the power is out, the stock markets are closed (for the first time since September 11th) and the death toll continues to rise. We are not suggesting that Superstorm Sandy was caused by climate change, after all, we do understand that hurricanes and storms are a part of nature. However, the intensity of Hurricane Sandy is much greater because of climate change.
As a result of global warming, ocean temperatures are higher than ever, providing more energy to storms. Climate change has also added more moisture to the air, resulting in more precipitation. Global warming is also responsible for rising sea levels, which contributes to greater storm surges and flooding.
Still need more proof of global warming? Here are some articles worth reading:
Scientific American: Did Climate Change Cause Hurricane Sandy?
“If you’ve followed the U.S. news and weather in the past 24 hours you have no doubt run across a journalist or blogger explaining why it’s difficult to say that climate change could be causing big storms like Sandy. Well, no doubt here: it is.”
Mother Jones: Did Climate Change Supersize Hurricane Sandy?
“Warm oceans are jet fuel for hurricanes, so it’s fair to say that these warmer temperatures are revving Sandy’s engine.”
The New Yorker: Watching Sandy, Ignoring Climate Change
“Coming as it is just a week before Election Day, Sandy makes the fact that climate change has been entirely ignored during this campaign seem all the more grotesque. In a year of record-breaking temperatures across the U.S., record drought conditions in the country’s corn belt, and now a record storm affecting the nation’s most populous cities, neither candidate found the issue to be worthy of discussion.”
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America: Perception of climate change
“Today’s extreme anomalies occur as a result of simultaneous contributions of specific weather patterns and global warming.”
Munich RE: North America most affected by increase in weather-related natural catastrophes
“A new study by Munich Re shows that North America has been most affected by weather-related extreme events in recent decades. The publication “Severe weather in North America” analyzes all kinds of weather perils and their trends. It reports and shows that the continent has experienced the largest increases in weather-related loss events.”
