∑ilage

As of today, hurricane Rita has reached category 5 status. Winds today topped out at 165 miles an hour. All of this is pretty horrible stuff, but adding to the mix is the fact that we're running out of hurricane names for the 2005 hurricane season. See the STORY

Not only does this mean that there are a lot of storms, but the current scheme of science we have for understanding and organizing climate is now falling apart in front of us. The limits of the old scientific conversations and assumptions (limits patent within a system that allots for only 20 something hurricanes a year) are bending or even breaking. So this is a kind of "climate change" we seem to be witnessing, but our current systems of scientific discourse (and more importantly, our collectively acknowledged status of the world ecosystem) fail to recognize this change. This may seem minor, but decisions like these make sure that the "new rules" of post pollution 21st century environments (rules like, for instance, there will be 30 hurricanes a year instead of 18, there is no such thing as a safe coastal city, etc.) continue to look like exceptions or mistakes to a norm that will eventually be restored automatically, when in fact they are the results of long term environmental shifts for which we are directly responsible.

So while there are plenty of other crises going on all over the Gulf, we can add to the list a subtle but profound failure of Western scientific discourse.