Roger Pielke, Jr. quoted in an Al Jazeera America article on extreme weather.

The next superstorm: Preparing for extreme weather
Scientists debate impact of climate change, but agree we must brace ourselves for natural disasters

Hurricane Katrina wreaks havoc on the Gulf Coast in 2005. Superstorm Sandy brings destruction to the East Coast in 2012. Heavy rains in the middle of the country lead to flooding in the rugged Rocky Mountains in 2013.

Each crisis brings greater urgency to preparations for the next storm. Scientists disagree on whether climate change is causing these cataclysms, but agree that humans, whose carbon emissions have altered the environment, need to change their thinking and habits to reflect the new, powerful effects of disastrous weather.

“All weather events these days are affected by climate change,” argues Kevin Trenberth, a senior scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder and a lead author of several assessments by the United Nations-backed Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Extreme events like Sandy “are developing in an environment that is different than it would have been without climate change,” he told Al Jazeera. For instance, climate change has made our world wetter, meaning storms pack more water power: “It rains harder, the storms tend to be a bit stronger,” Trenberth said. Read more …

Roger Pielke, Jr. in AP article on Superstorm Sandy

Tallying Sandy’s death, damage becomes complex task
by Geoff Mulvihill, Associated Press

Tracking the toll of a disaster like Superstorm Sandy is not like keeping score at a baseball game. Its damage to lives and property may never be known precisely, and there are multiple ways to tally it.

In the case of deaths, tracking is done in some places by state governments, and in some by counties, and without one standard as to whether a death is attributable to the storm.

The federal government has reported two different death totals from the Oct. 29, 2012, storm. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, relying on data from the American Red Cross, counted 117. The National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration tally, which used local government figures and media accounts, was 159 caused directly or indirectly by the storm. Read more …