Thoughts on a world where Gustavs and Katrinas might become increasingly common

This weekend saw some excitement with the advance of Gustav across the Gulf, leaving in its wake destruction and death. This image is of the strorm with winds of approximately 135 miles per hour while it was in the Gulf of Mexico. The image comes from the following website, which also provides some good background information http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Gustav. Gustav seemed headed to New Orleans almost as some bizarre anniversary reminder of Katrina, and this morning its landfall to the west of the city was confirmed - and luckily it was downgraded to a Category 2. Many parts of the world have communities, established for historical reasons, that are not located in ideal spots - and I was thinking that with some of the expected damage estimates - one approximately US$30 billion - what it would take to turn government and societal perspectives from reactive to proactive.

One of the simpler, and arguably more sustainable strategies for the New Orleans coastal area is to recreate the wetlands and offshore islands and complexes that existed there historically - and which have been removed or degraded as the result of poorly thought out economic development and river and estuary management. Why has there been no major focus on integrated strategies to rebuild natural defenses, while attention, seemingly inadequate attention, has been directed to shoring up dikes and pumps, etc.? It struck me that it has been three years since Katrina hit, and still the preparations are inadequate. For the US, WWII only lasted four years, and look what the country achieved there...why can a city not be rebuilt, protected and more effectively saved in 75% of that time?

Storms such as Gustav, or more accurately their anticipated increased frequency and strength are potential symptoms of Global Warming. It is time for us to take an integrated approach, not just a multidisciplinary but more effectively a trans-disciplinary approach to assessing and attempting to address the symptoms and problems underlying the environmental challenges that we face, all of which will have increasingly profound economic and societal impacts in the future. God Bless those folks in the Gulf Area and all those helping them. Paul