Another Hurricane

After Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, I thought that the devastation
might be over for the hurricane season, but apparently I was
extremely wrong. Over the weekend, a hurricane hit the area of my
February 2005 vacation spot, the greater Ft. Lauderdale (and Miami,
though I wasn't ever there) area in Florida. It's sometimes hard to
fathom the destruction and wreckage that could accumulate in an
area that you have actually been to before, staying in hotels in
which you could go swimming in an outdoor pool in the middle of
February when in other parts of the country there are huge snow
storms and below zero temperatures. I was in awe as the plane got
closer to the ground before landing at the Ft. Lauderdale/Hollywood
airport in Hollywood Florida. Since moving to Maine when I was a
mere three years old, I hadn't seen any palm trees or orange
groves in recent times until then. As the plane got closer to
the ground, I got excited because I could visibly see the palm
trees on the land below me. I estatically told my grandmother
about it (since I had a window seat), and she immediately asked
how I could tell from that far away which were the palm trees.
I knew, without hesitation that these growths below were what
I thought there were. As the plane got closer to the ground,
I could actually see the branches of the trees, which made the
experience even more enjoyable and special. Everywhere there
was a beach, there was pure white sand and crystal clear blue
waters, just like in the National Geographic magazine photos.
To me it was like being welcomed into heaven, or being a
Hollywood star stepping out of a limo and onto the red carpet.

Now this whole area is destroyed, and a disaster. Key West,
where the key limes to make key lime pie come from, is now
under a few feet of flood water. From Ft. Myers on the west
coast of Florida, to Miami and the Ft. Lauderdale/ Palm Beach
area millions of dollars of damage where done, and as a result
of global warming. Is it worth it to pollute the environment?
At the cost of Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma, many
billions of dollars of damage, I don't think it is worth on
penny.