Katrina - Two Years On

It's the second anniversary of Katrina - and I'd like to recommend that you head over to The Intersection, Chris Mooney's (author of Storm World) home blog and read a couple of posts, one by co-blogger Sheril Kirshenbaum called ...but We ALL Knew Katrina Was Coming!, which is about

Professor Joe Kelley [who] is a nationally renowned marine geologist whose scientific expertise on the Louisiana coastline has long been sought by private and government organizations. Surely he knew what he was talking about, not to mention he even used to be a professor at the University of New Orleans. So evidently, there was something to all this coastal geology.

In 1984, Joe wrote 'Living With the Louisiana Shore' predicting much of what has come to pass. Obviously, for more reasons than Orwell, we should have paid better attention to what we were warned about that year. The science and history of hurricanes in Louisiana sounded terrifying and it was obvious to me - and everyone in the room - that New Orleans didn't stand a chance.

Sheril makes it clear that this is much older than the current administration... and then you can read the four-part post by Chris himself which is probably the best reading on the topic this week, a series that pulls no punches:

Hurricane Katrina Lessons, Part I: Learning to Live With Scientific Uncertainty
Hurricane Katrina Lessons, Part II: It's Bigger Than New Orleans
Hurricane Katrina Lessons, Part III: Why Aren't We Studying Changing Risks?
Hurricane Katrina Lessons, Part IV: It's the President, Stupid