Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
The number of hurricanes, their violence, and the path they take in the North
Atlantic, are highly variable and unpredictable. The coast of the United States is
directly hit by an average of two hurricanes per year, but some years are spared
(2006) while others are very active. In 2005, 15 hurricanes formed in the Atlantic
and six hit the United States, four of which had wind speeds exceeding 180 km/h.
Hurricanes are the most feared natural hazard in the United States. In 1900, a
hurricane hit the city of Galveston, Texas, during the night, killing over
6,000 people. Hurricane Katrina, which caused the flooding of New Orleans in
2005, killed more than 1,850 people and caused more than $85 billion of damage. It
is, to date, the most costly natural disaster in the history of the United States.
Among populated areas, the city of Miami is most likely to be hit by a hurricane,
with an average of one hurricane every four years. The entire southern coast is likely
to be swept by hurricanes at least once every 10 years. The risk of hurricanes is
lowest in the Northeast. Major hurricanes (categories 3, 4 and 5 on the Saphir-
Simpson scale) are less frequent, but their return frequency is only nine years in
Miami, 15 years in Charleston, 19 years in New Orleans, and 21 years in Houston.
Until today, hurricane hazards have not hindered the attractiveness of the
southern coast. The extent of damage caused by the passage of Katrina through three
states in 2005, however, and the violence of hurricanes during that year have not
only sensitized American general opinion on climate-related hazards, but they have
also fueled the controversy surrounding global warming.
Of equal concern is the worsening drought in the western part of the country, as
well as the increase in the number of giant forest fires (wildfires) during summer and
fall seasons, as demonstrated in October 2007 during the giant fires that ravaged
southern California, including the metropolitan areas of Los Angeles and San Diego.
However responsible global warming may be for these events, increased awareness
of environmental issues is in large part due to the increase of extreme weather
hazards and their severe consequences.
Hurricane Katrina not only ended the popularity of President George W. Bush, it
also shattered certainties and led the American people to understand that sustainable
development is not about hypothetical long-term speculation, but about a challenge
whose stakes are already at hand. Geography shows us that America will experience
difficulties in reducing its energy consumption, even if only for domestic use (travel,
heating, air-conditioning). It must meet the challenge of finding substitute
technologies for fossil energy sources in order to reconcile the very foundation of its
territorial organization and its economic and social cohesion with the imperatives of
sustainable development.
