4 Replies to “Irma”

  1. Katrina deaths were wholly preventable. People that choose live 18 feet below sea level and expect a 28 foot storm surge should maintain their dikes. The dykes were breached in something like 50 locations.

  2. I think the relevant time period regarding hurricanes and AGW would be 1950 to the present. According to accepted climate science any effects of increased CO2 would not be possible until after 1950. It also eliminates the time period before reliable records on hurricanes.
    As always the most important question is: would money be better spent adapting and increasing resilience in places that are most vulnerable to extreme weather/climate (AGW or natural variability) or mitigating CO2 emissions. In this case, I doubt there’s enough money to do both. Since wind and solar make electricity less reliable and less affordable it’s obviously not the answer. How did solar and wind installations fare in the hurricane? How does that compare to natgas, nuclear and coal plants. As was mentioned in the comments, you can’t black start the grid with wind or solar, even if they survive the storm. Electric cars are equally vulnerable since they rely on the grid whereas the ICE owner needs only a jerry can and a siphoning tube in a pinch.
    An unpopular but important solution would be to discourage the building of oceanfront homes. Over the next 50 years stop the practice of using taxpayer money to backstop insuring million dollar homes in high risk areas. Maybe start with a cap on insurance in these zones. After 50 years it should be an ‘at your own risk’ build in high risk areas including oceanfront, landslide prone areas, flood plains the regularly flood and forests with frequent fires. Places and hazards where there’s no engineering fix that can decrease catastrophic events. Not a ban but promoting personal responsibility and risk assessment.

  4. The fact that Hurricane frequencies have increased is because back prior to the 1950’s we really didn’t know about a Hurricane or Tropical storm unless it landed somewhere or was reported by a passing ship.
    Now we know everything that is out there.

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