A year ago, I noted that "much reportage and analysis on climate change" was beginning to emphasize the connection between global warming and weather related catastrophes. This emphasis gave rise to a new meme, which Newsweek summarized in the sub-headline of a cover story:
In a world of climate change, freak storms are the new normal.
To understand just how widely this meme has since been embraced, google "new normal and climate change." But I'm jumping ahead. Before we get to how the "new normal" frame has shaped the dialogue on Hurricane Sandy, let's recall what Bill McKibben, one of the most prominent climate activists and environmental writers, had to say about the hurricane that grazed New York last year:
