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| A fallen tree by the American Museum of Natural History |
It is a gloomy day dominated by a plumbeous sky in NYC. It is the
morning after Hurricane Sandy path crossed the city going over the already high
disaster expectations:
- a record storm surge of 13 feet, aided by full moon
- winds gusts to over 70 mph in the Rockaways and other areas in the Five Boroughs
- Power outage for at least 650,000 households in New York and Westchester by early am this morning — 250,000 in only Manhattan at the pick of the storm.
- Forced evacuations for up to 375,000 people in the New York City's Zone A
The world looks different; even the Upper West Side, which is one the Manhattan neighborhoods least effected by the storm, seems to be out of a scene from a
science fiction movie, where empty streets covered by leaves, fallen brunches and even trees.
Fallen trees are nature casualties from yesterday a battle between water, wind, earth and fire, in the city where human greed dominates and money. And sadly, fallen trees are the main cause of human casualties. Quite ironically and almost iconically the dandling crane at 157 West 57th Street, was one of the most visible announcement of Sandy's arrival: the crane was aiding in the construction of one the most expensive residential real estate in the world. Al Gore stated in his blog how Hurricane Sandy is related to global warming: “Scientists tell us that by continually dumping 90 million tons of
global warming pollution into the atmosphere every single day, we are
altering the environment in which all storms develop. As the oceans and
atmosphere continue to warm, storms are becoming more energetic and
powerful. Hurricane Sandy, and the Nashville flood, were reminders of
just that.”
So many other natural disasters are related to global warming and other human caused environmental decay; perhaps the devastation brought by Sandy should remind us that money can buy almost
everything but for nature.
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| Unseasonal leaves on trees (global warming?) caused branches to fall for the strong winds |
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| A deserted Central Park West |
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| Another tree casualty in Central Park, still closed |
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| A tree is a symbol of strength, life and harmony, extending from the earth to the sky |
