Hurricane Sandy has shown us very clearly what kinds of weather events we are likely to experience in the future and how little prepared we are to deal with them. The cost for New York hzs been the loss of human life, billions of dollars in property damage, and a city thrown into turmoil. I could go on forever railing about how we had this coming---that it's Gaia's revenge against our species for our arrogance and stupidity---but it wouldn't change the fact that Americans probably haven't learned the right kinds of lessons from this experience.
If you're at interested in what the "right lessons" to take away from Sandy are, I would highly recommend reading the following excellent article by Nicholas Kristoff:
It's probably too late to stem the tide of climate change. Many climatologist believe we've reached a tipping point already and there's not much we can do about that. But we might be able to staunch some of the most severe effects of climate change, if we act now and if we act with collective resolve.
My fear is that we've become so soften by our materialism that we couldn't act now, even if we wanted to. And that's a real tragedy---not so much for the planet, but for one extremely selfish species that inhabits it.
Welcome to the new normal.
