Weekly News Roundup – Hurricane Sandy Edition

As the country tries to recover from the devastation and destruction caused by Hurricane Sandy, I am using this week’s roundup to highlight NWF’s response to the superstorm:

Areas of Long Island, NY shown during an overflight following Hurricane Sandy. Photo: Flickr/DVIDSHUB

Sandy’s Mandate: When Political Reality Meets Climate Reality

November 1 – Whatever happens on November 6th, the tragic scenes unfolding across the 19 states impacted by Superstorm Sandy have realigned American politics when it comes to climate change.The road to Election Day has gone from sarcastic remarks in Tampa, to two debate moderators apologizing for not asking the climate change question, to Republican standard bearer Gov. Chris Christie touring his devastated home state with President Obama, to New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg penning an op-ed declaring that action on climate change is the central electoral issue.

How Arctic Sea Ice Loss Can Set the Stage for Superstorms

November 1 – As the east coast begins efforts to recover from Hurricane Sandy, the devastating effects of climate change are impossible to miss. Bigger, more powerful storms. More rainfall and higher storm surge. These are exactly the sorts of impacts that climate scientists have been worried about for years. Global warming is putting hurricanes on steroids and we’re beginning to see the effects.

To make matters worse, record-low sea ice in the Arctic likely contributed to the weather conditions that transformed Hurricane Sandy into a “superstorm”, when she collided with a winter storm system.

Hurricane Sandy’s Impact on Fish and Wildlife

October 30 – Hurricane Sandy made landfall on the East Coast this week and due to its unusual West-turning track, it came ashore midway in the eastern “Megalopolis” with its 65 million people.  Virginia and Maryland were drenched and pummeled and New York and New Jersey were flooded and smashed.  Human impact is the main concern for so many but, what  happens to fish and wildlife during such major storms? After Hurricane Irene devastated the east coast in August of 2011, we wrote a synopsis of the ways species are affected by major storms coming ashore and some things you can do to help them. Here is an updated “Sandy” version of that blog post.

Sandy: Send the Bill to ExxonMobil

October 30 – The heroic efforts of people coming together to assist each other in the face of Hurricane Sandy give me great hope for how we work together to overcome adversity.  If we look at this storm and all the increasing toll of “unusual” weather disasters as random, however, we will miss an opportuity to secure a better future for our families and forwildlife.  Those who have stood in harm’s way deserve better accountability for the actions that have made Sandy such a destructive storm, just as the farmers out West deserve better for the droughts they have suffered through, and others for the wildfires that have swept through parts of our nation.

East Coast Faces Monstrous Halloween Hurricane: How is Climate Change Fueling Sandy?

October 26 – As Hurricane Sandy barrels up the East Coast, forecasters are giving it nicknames that sound like the title of a disaster movie: Frankenstorm. The Perfect Storm II. All point to the grave danger of a monster storm fueled by the historic convergence of rare weather conditions and climate impacts.

Meteorologists did not pick the name Frankenstorm only because of the Halloween timing. The name also reflects the highly unusual nature of this storm.

Here are highlights from NWF in the news:

Take ActionUrge President Obama and Governor Romney to voice their plans to address climate change, now.