When Will It Be Our Turn?

Hurricane Dorian, the fifth Category 5 hurricane to hit the U.S. in the past four years, has captivated many of us for the past week as we watched the latest forecasts to see where it would strike the American mainland.

The increasing intensity of tropical storms has been predicted for decades by those who have studied the effects of climate change caused by the burning of fossil fuels that is heating up the planet.

Superstorm Sandy was an example of the catastrophic effects that can occur when a huge storm strikes our heavily-populated urban areas in the northeast. The Boston area was largely spared from Sandy’s wrath (though we did have extended power outages), but we have to face the reality that given the acceleration of the effects of climate change and rising sea levels, it will be our turn, sooner rather than later, for a catastrophic weather event to visit us with devastating force.