Washington Post (December 2)
“The world’s oceans are rising 60 percent faster than the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change anticipated five years ago…. A five-foot rise would produce Sandy-like floods in New York every 15 years, on average.” The entire east coast “will have to wrestle with the question of which coastal areas are worth protecting — by raising land, lengthening beaches, heightening homes or building sea walls to keep the water out — and which aren’t.”
Tags: East coast, IPCC, Oceans, Sandy, Seal walls, U.N.
USA Today (November 12)
“Thanks to computers and smartphones, Americans are more dependent than ever on electricity. But the nation’s 20th century power grid is incompatible with its 21st century economy and increasingly extreme weather.” For days and even weeks, thousands were left in the dark following hurricane Sandy. “The utilities are not powerless. They can bury more key lines, harden substations and protect cellular communications, a vital link when disaster strikes.”
Tags: Disaster, Extreme weather, Power grid, Sandy, Smartphones, U.S., Utilities
Ceres (November 1)
Losses from Hurricane Sandy may run as high as $50 billion. Ceres has urged “insurance companies to reckon with the economic implications of increasingly unpredictable and extreme weather induced by climate change.” They should take the lead in pushing “for climate-friendly legislation and measures to improve resilience, such as building communities in safer areas and moving electrical equipment in buildings from basements to higher floors.”
New York Times (October 31)
“Still hobbled by power outages and waterlogged transit, the New York region struggled to return to the rhythms of daily life on Wednesday, while facing the reality of a prolonged and daunting period of recovery.” Both the NYSE and NASDAQ are scheduled to resume trading with Mayor Michael Bloomberg scheduled to “open the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday morning after a two-day closure, the first for weather-related reasons since 1888.”
