Satellite image of Hurricane Sandy as it approached the U.S. coastline on October 29, 2012 (© NOAA)

Was climate change behind Sandy? Yup, scientist says

10/30/2012

One pundit isn't asking if climate change is behind superstorm Sandy. "No doubt here: It is," writes Mark Fischetti in Scientific American. "Researchers have gotten very good in the past decade at determining what affects the variables that create big storms," he continues. Sandy, Fischetti says, was so massive because Arctic ice melt led to what's known as a "negative North Atlantic Oscillation" — which in turn caused a "blocking high" that sent the jet stream south, where it further energized warm Atlantic air and resulted in the mega-storm. In any case, Hurricane Sandy has allowed more scientists to directly link climate change and storms, which is probably a good thing. [Source]

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