Category Archives: disaster

From the Washington Post, in a story discussing a mine accident that killed forty, coming a day after a benzene spill poisoned a river that provide water for a city of four million: A recent government report said that up to 70 percent of China’s rivers and lakes are dangerously polluted, and the air in severalContinue reading “Question of the Day”

Shiver in my bones just thinking…about the weather. (from "Like the Weather," by 10,000 Maniacs) What Katrina looked like, approaching Alabama…

From Dr. Jeff Masters’ Wunder Blog, posted by a hurricane watcher widely admired in the meterological community…"Including the damage done to Mexico, Wilma will probably be the second most costly hurricane of all time, next to Katrina." After producing more hurricanes than any other year on record, the 2005 season has run through the alphabetContinue reading “Wilma: “Only” a Category Two”

In Harper’s in September, Rebecca Solnit wrote that rare animal–a truly surprising essay. Published on the eve of Katrina’s landfall, and excerpted on the web, Solnit made at least three really thought-provoking points: First, that people who live through disasters often look back on them fondly. New Yorkers remember the blackouts that way. Solnit, whoContinue reading “Is Human Kindness Surprising?”

A concise, elegant metereological discussion of the connection between global warming and hurricanes can be found here at the wonderful Gristmill blog, courtesy of my friend at JPL, oceanographer Bill Patzert. The discussion closely parallels my look at the issue below in the post called "Sorry, Mr. Sullivan. Sorry, Mr. Kennedy," I’m happy to say,Continue reading “Strong Winds”

From a Newsweek  story on the disastrous lack of government oversight in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina: The skies in New Orleans gradually filled with search-and-rescue helicopters, but there was no central command to coordinate them. A NEWSWEEK reporter on a helo flown by the Arizona Air Reserve heard this conversation as the crew readiedContinue reading “No Central Command”

Today the Chicago Tribune develops the story about the disastrous Republican underfunding of the flood-control system designed to prevent New Orleans from catastrophe. The lede: Despite continuous warnings that a catastrophic hurricane could hit New Orleans, the Bush administration and Congress in recent years have repeatedly denied full funding for hurricane preparation and flood control.Continue reading “Something Gave”

Andrew Sullivan, a prominent right-wing blogger, looks at the possibility of a link between global warming and the devastating hurricane that just hit New Orleans and scoffs: "As if any serious expert believes this is in any way connected." Sorry, Mr. Sullivan, but on August 4th of this year a prominent atmospheric scientist at M.I.T.,Continue reading “Sorry, Mr. Sullivan. Sorry, Mr. Kennedy.”

Yesterday we thought New Orleans was spared the worst of the disaster. Today we learn that two  levees protecting the below-sea level city have collapsed and Lake Pontchartrain is in full flood. Parts of New Orleans are twenty feet under water, remaining residents have just been ordered to evacuate by the governor, and the lossContinue reading “It’s Not Over”