HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM THE INSTITUTE FOR SUSTAINABLE SOLUTIONS AT PORTLAND STATE UNIVERSITY! How a Category 5 hurricane could wipe out New York City for good.

Vivek Shandas, director of the Institute for Sustainable Solutions at Portland State University in Portland, Ore., also points to New York as being “incredibly high on the list of vulnerable cities.” She notes that it’s been a disaster waiting to happen since the 18th century, thanks to its questionable infrastructure created long before hurricanes were a real concern.

Hurricane Sandy in 2012 was a warning shot. And it wasn’t even technically a hurricane when it hit New York. Dubbed a “superstorm,” Sandy was a combination tropical storm and nor’easter. After it decimated eight tunnels and stranded millions of commuters between Brooklyn and lower Manhattan, the recovery effort cost a staggering $32.8 billion.

Meanwhile, at the other end of the Northeast Corridor: ‘Promise?’ Illustrated warning of what Washington, DC might look like if climate change isn’t addressed backfires:

Of course, there’s a way to help prevent both scenarios from ever occurring: Climate Change: Tax the Blue Zones!