How Climate Change Amplified Sandy’s Impacts
By Dan Huber
As Hurricane Sandy moves out of the region, people in affected areas are beginning to take stock of the damage. Flooding in parts of New Jersey and New York from the storm surge hit record levels. The 13.8-foot surge measured at Battery Park in Lower Manhattan surpassed the all-time record of 11.2 feet set in 1821, flooding the New York subway system and two major commuter tunnels. Along the Eastern Seaboard, an estimated 7.5 million people lost power. Farther inland, blizzard conditions dropped as much as 2 feet of snow as Sandy crashed into arctic air over the Midwest. While early estimates indicate direct damages from the hurricane may be as much as $20 billion, the total economic losses, including losses in consumer and business spending, could be more than twice that amount.
A number of climate change-related factors may well have intensified the storm's impact: higher ocean temperatures, higher sea levels, and an atmospheric traffic jam that may be related to Arctic melting. Hurricane Sandy is also a clear reminder of how vulnerable our homes and infrastructure already are to extreme weather — and this risk is growing.
Scientists know that warmer atmospheric temperatures and higher ocean temperatures are increasing the frequency and severity of heavy precipitation events on average, and Sandy spent significant time over water that was as much as 5 degrees Celsius above normal.
Globally, climate change is increasing sea levels, and in the Northeast U.S., the ocean is rising at a level much faster than the global rate. When Sandy’s storm surge combined with an extra-high tide caused by the full moon and sea level rise, the results were devastating for coastal areas.
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