On Monday, most of Virginia saw the worst of the “Frankenstorm,”
Hurricane Sandy. In Virginia Beach, 9.21 inches of rain fell, in Newport News 7
inches, and at Norfolk International Airport 5.8 inches, according to the
National Weather Service in Wakefield.
During an afternoon briefing on Monday, Gov. Bob McDonnell
commented, “You’ve got flooding in Southeast Virginia. You’ve got a blizzard in
western and Southwest Virginia. And you got high winds and heavy rains in
Northern Virginia. That’s going to be what it looks like now for the next 24 to
36 hours.”[1]
By Tuesday, however, Hurricane Sandy was all but gone and
Virginians began to assess the damage that had been wrought across the state. Compared
to the damage done to Virginia’s neighbors to the north, the commonwealth came
out relatively unscathed.
While global warming and climate change did not necessarily
cause Hurricane Sandy, the latter’s destructive potential was unequivocally fed
by warmer atmospheric and ocean temperatures.[2]
Climatologist, Kevin Trenberth, noted that “With every
degree C [Celsius], the water holding of the atmosphere goes up 7%, and the
moisture provides fuel for the tropical storm, increases its intensity, and
magnifies the rainfall by double that amount compared to normal conditions.”
In other words, global warming exasperates natural disasters
that occur.
While estimates are already beginning to be churned out
regarding the destructive costs of Sandy[3],
the true costs of this most recent hurricane cannot be quantified in terms of
personal loss.
While quantifying tragedy has its purpose, it detracts from
the emotional connections that Americans need for true personal empathy. Thus,
it sweeps away an important human impetus to push for environmental policies
that combat global warming and climate change.
No country, no matter how powerful, can continue receiving
hurricanes like Sandy and Irene year after year. As a country, we’ve attempted
our first experiment: put greenhouse gases into the air with reckless abandon.
Now
it’s time to move forward with our next experiment: dramatically reduce
greenhouse gas emissions emitted into the atmosphere.
Virginia, this includes you as well!
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