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My favorite example of this is Katrina. It wasn't a hugely powerful storm like say Andrew (it was only a Category 3 at landfall), it just happened to hit at ex

My favorite example of this is Katrina. It wasn't a hugely powerful storm like say Andrew (it was only a Category 3 at landfall), it just happened to hit at exactly the wrong spot. People have been talking about this happening since before I was born, so it shouldn't have been a huge shock when it finally did. Despite this, and despite the fact that we have had a string of mild hurricane seasons since then, Katrina is often pointed to as an example of the kind of worse-than-usual storms we can expect in the future.

ajross 17y ago
Uh... Katrina was a "worse-than-usual" storm, by pretty much every metric. Not the biggest (though the cat-3-at-landfall was because of a luckily-timed eyewall cycle, it was absolutely a cat-5 storm), but certainly one of the most memorable. So what's wrong with using a memorable storm as an example of similar storms?
- fleitz 17y ago
  Nothing is wrong with it except that most of the damage was caused by the genius idea of building below sea/water level in an area known to be inundated with hurricanes which tend to cause increases in sea level and then neglecting to maintain the levies to keep the water out. It surely wasn't individuals and various levels gov't making cataclysmically bad decisions, no sirree, it was global warming. Also, the gov't should have had more boats on hand for actors to rescue puppies.
  - petewarden 17y ago
    Nothing is wrong with it except that most of the damage was caused by the genius idea of adding gases to the atmosphere that basic physics tell us trap heat, in a world where people love to live in low-lying areas next to bodies of water, and then neglecting to worry about any curbs on this massive experiment in 'what happens next?'
    - fleitz 17y ago
      The sea level used to be 300 feet lower than where it is today. The planet changes, deal with it. Why is whatever the temperature was in 1700 the ideal temperature? If we have the power to change the temperature of the earth we should be thinking what the ideal temperature we'd like it to be is and do that instead of picking the day we started burning coal.
  - ajross 17y ago
    That's a pretty bald strawman you've constructed. I'm not aware of anyone serious making the case that carbon emissions caused Katrina, nor of anyone serious ignoring infrastructure issues in New Orleans to make a political point.

ajross 17y ago

Uh... Katrina was a "worse-than-usual" storm, by pretty much every metric. Not the biggest (though the cat-3-at-landfall was because of a luckily-timed eyewall cycle, it was absolutely a cat-5 storm), but certainly one of the most memorable. So what's wrong with using a memorable storm as an example of similar storms?

fleitz 17y ago
Nothing is wrong with it except that most of the damage was caused by the genius idea of building below sea/water level in an area known to be inundated with hurricanes which tend to cause increases in sea level and then neglecting to maintain the levies to keep the water out. It surely wasn't individuals and various levels gov't making cataclysmically bad decisions, no sirree, it was global warming. Also, the gov't should have had more boats on hand for actors to rescue puppies.
- petewarden 17y ago
  Nothing is wrong with it except that most of the damage was caused by the genius idea of adding gases to the atmosphere that basic physics tell us trap heat, in a world where people love to live in low-lying areas next to bodies of water, and then neglecting to worry about any curbs on this massive experiment in 'what happens next?'
  - fleitz 17y ago
    The sea level used to be 300 feet lower than where it is today. The planet changes, deal with it. Why is whatever the temperature was in 1700 the ideal temperature? If we have the power to change the temperature of the earth we should be thinking what the ideal temperature we'd like it to be is and do that instead of picking the day we started burning coal.
- ajross 17y ago
  That's a pretty bald strawman you've constructed. I'm not aware of anyone serious making the case that carbon emissions caused Katrina, nor of anyone serious ignoring infrastructure issues in New Orleans to make a political point.