Excerpt
JUDY WOODRUFF (Newshour): And we take up a question that is being discussed in the wake of the hurricane. Should cities and states start making bigger changes to prepare for the consequences of natural disasters and severe weather?
Ray Suarez has the story as part of our ongoing series on Coping With Climate Change.
RAY SUAREZ (Newshour): A hurricane in the final days of October fed by warm ocean water slams the Eastern Seaboard. It's a reminder of how often extreme weather events have been in the news.
Superstorm Sandy battered the coastline, and a record 14-foot storm surge brought New York City to a standstill, leaving the city with potentially staggering repair costs.
All this came just months after the summer heat wave caused harsh droughts throughout the Midwest, and wildfires engulfed entire swathes of Colorado.
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the last year, from June of 2011 to July of 2012, was the nation's warmest year since record-keeping began in 1895. And it's just over a year ago that Hurricane Irene caused record flooding in the Northeast.
But with Sandy came new records and, according to New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, more pressure for governments to act.
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