The devastation of Superstorm Sandy affected many lives in the northeast region of the country, and some experts are saying that climate change had something to do with it. Climate change is, in short, the change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over time, and is often said to be caused by human-specific impacts. Could this mean, then, that humans are to blame for the arrival of Hurricane Sandy? According to Justin Gillis of The New York Times, scientists know, however, that the resulting storm surge across the Atlantic coast was almost certainly intensified by decades of sea-level rise linked to human emissions of greenhouse gasses.” In the same article, research meteorologist Thomas R. Knutson said, “We’re changing the environment…We’re changing global temperature, we’re changing atmospheric moisture, we’re changing a lot of things. Humans are running this experiment, and we’re not quite sure how it’s going to turn out.” According to Environmental Geoscience teacher Kate Ferraro, “There’s this natural link that if ocean temperatures are rising, that provides more energy for storms in the first place… Climate Change is so complex, though. There are so many different factors that play into it. You have increasing ocean temperatures, and as a result of that, you have weather patterns shifting, and precipitation patterns shifting, and wind patterns. While some people have disputed claims that climate change is a real factor in our lives, or at least one that is as important as we may think, Ferraro says that “We have climate records going back for about 200,000 years now. Modern data within the last 100 years or so has been sampled by us. We have monitoring stations monitoring all kinds of climate. Ancient data comes from ice records, so we can drill through ice and sample air bubbles that were trapped in the ice.” With other factors used as evidence for climate change from greenhouse gasses and weather patterns, Ferraro said that “There’s really nothing to ‘believe in,’ there are just some people who don’t think it’s a big deal.” While Superstorm Sandy has been a significant part of the climate change issue, there is also talk about how the storm had an impact the recent political race. According to Reymond Hernandez, of The New York Times Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg has said that “Hurricane Sandy had reshaped his thinking about the presidential campaign and that as a result, he was endorsing President Obama.” Hernandez went on to say that Sandy had already influenced the campaign, stating that “[t]he storm and the destruction it left in its wake have dominated news coverage, transfixing the nation and prompting candidates to halt their campaigning briefly.” Republican governor Chris Christie of New Jersey even supported President Obama for his relief efforts, which came off as a shock to the sociopolitical world at large. “It’s been a great working relationship,” said Governor Christie. “I cannot thank the president enough for his personal concern and compassion for our state.” This is a radically different statement from when he originally said that Obama was “blindly walking around the White House looking for a clue.” Many people criticized Christie and his changed opinions towards the President, but Christie said that in this time of disaster he doesn’t “give a damn about presidential politics,” and those who thought otherwise “don’t know” him.