We should not be surprised. That's the view of many climate scientists as they survey the destruction wrought by the superstorm that ravaged the Northeast this week. The melting of Arctic ice, rising sea levels, the warming atmosphere and changes to weather patterns are a potent combination likely to produce storms and tidal surges of unprecedented intensity, according to many experts.

Major devastation in New Orleans.
500 year flood in Atlanta.
500 year flood in Nashville.
Unusual winter temperatures and snow fall levels.
Record summer heat waves.
Massive tornado outbreaks.
Repeated, record water levels and devastation in NYC.

None of these extreme weather events is directly "caused" by global warming. Global warming makes extreme weather events more likely to occur, in general.

That process cannot be stopped and will continue to get worse as we move into the future. Therefore, events like these will continue to unfold and will become the new normal.

People will die as a consequence of these events.

Over the long haul, all the sarcastic dismissal of global warming that conservatives have engaged in will prove to be extremely politically damaging for them in light of the reality that people are now experiencing. They looked at a bunch of facts and made a long term political bet against them.

We're running right into those facts like a brick wall.