It’s déjà vu all over again: a huge chunk of the nation is reeling from extreme weather – in this case, the devastation wrought by Hurricane Sandy, the so-called “Frankenstorm.”

Scientists tell us you can’t blame any one weather event on climate change. But they do say warmer water energizes tropical storms like Sandy. And they say a warming world puts more moisture in the atmosphere, which tends to bring greater rainfall totals when heavy weather strikes. And they point out that storm surges like the ones we’ve seen this week do more damage when sea levels are already elevated before the storm strikes.