In an impulsive, unthinking moment when learning that hurricane Sandy was expected to target the area between New York and Washington, I said to my sister that this was a well deserved target area: Wall Street and their political agents who have been vigorously engaged in global warming denial. This article shamed me by revealing that most people who suffer the ravages from these storms are the poor.
While Hurricane Sandy ravaged the Caribbean and the US eastern seaboard, Typhoon Son-Tinh tore through the Philippines, China and Vietnam, killing more than 35 people. As expected from climate change predictions, floods were responsible for most of the damage to life and property. It should be noted however, that these ravages of climate change were, for the most part, unmitigated by social justice. Those who perished from the mudslides, floods and violent waves were caught by surprise or lacked the wherewithal to move to higher ground. They were overwhelmingly poor.