Surprise. It’s in Antarctica.

Keith Barry:

If the most recent run of trials are successful, Amtrak passengers traveling on that route will see trains hit 110 MPH as soon as Thanksgiving. The end goal is to bring that speed of service to 75 percent of the tracks between Chicago and St. Louis in the next three years, reducing the travel time between the two cities by 90 minutes.

Matt Novak:

Perhaps Huxley’s most inaccurate prediction is his assumption that an increase in productivity will mean an increase in wages for the average worker. As we’ve seen over the last half a century, increased worker productivity has not led to a dramatic increase in wages.

Adam Davidson, writing for the New York Times Magazine:

While there are no universally accepted numbers, the United Nations Statistics Division calculates that the dollar value of goods made in America is at an all-time high of $1.9 trillion, just about even with China. The catch is that the number of American workers needed to create all that value has dropped steadily. In the mid-1940s, more than half of the New Jersey work force was in factories; today around 7 percent do. Thereare the same number of manufacturing jobs nationwide as there were in 1941, when the country was just more than one-third its current population.

Think about that a moment, for two reasons. First, the United States has three times more people today than it did in 1941.

Which brings up the second reason, and one that I think captures the zeitgeist of America today. We want to be all the things we once were, but the world won’t let us. It has moved on, and we can’t bring ourselves to admit it. Want proof? Look to places where the manufacturing economy has been hit hard, like the Northeast Corridor or my home state of Wisconsin. 

Yale e360:

A U.S. researcher says projected sea-level rise over the next century has been underestimated because current models fail to consider several critical feedbacks that might accelerate rising seas in the coming decades.

Not as bad as I had feared, but still not good.

Yours truly, writing for NOVA:

We’re in the midst of a lengthy and expensive overhaul of our nation’s electrical grid, one that heralds a new, “smarter” future. Power generation and delivery haven’t changed much since the days of Edison and Tesla, but a new wave of technologies, known collectively as the smart grid, will modernize the industry. Some utility companies have already started down this road, installing smart meters that communicate demand with operators. But could smart grid technologies have helped during Hurricane Sandy, or any other large natural disaster, for that matter? The answer is yes and no, and which part of that answer is right depends on how you define the smart grid.

Christopher Mims, writing for Quartz:

So, is climate change causing a storm that could do record amounts of damage to the US eastern seaboard and disrupt trade all over the globe? Perhaps the more salient question is: Will climate change lead to more frequent extreme weather events everywhere, including rare occurrences such as Sandy? And the answer to that one is a resounding yes.

Sharp words from Paul Barrett at Businessweek:

Yes, yes, it’s unsophisticated to blame any given storm on climate change. Men and women in white lab coats tell us—and they’re right—that many factors contribute to each severe weather episode. Climate deniers exploit scientific complexity to avoid any discussion at all.

Clarity, however, is not beyond reach. Hurricane Sandy demands it: At least 40 U.S. deaths. Economic losses expected to climb as high as $50 billion. Eight million homes without power. Hundreds of thousands of people evacuated. More than 15,000 flights grounded. Factories, stores, and hospitals shut. Lower Manhattan dark, silent, and underwater.

The World:

Raymond Hernandez, reporting for the New York Times:

In a surprise announcement, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said Thursday that Hurricane Sandy had reshaped his thinking about the presidential campaign and that as a result he was endorsing President Obama.

After months of not being discussed by either candidate, climate change is suddenly a part of the race. 

Before Hurricane Sandy, Geoff Manaugh wondered what the New York City region would look like if massive flood barriers—similar to what some people have proposed in the past few days—lowered the Hudson and East Rivers and excavation exposed riverbeds’ slopes:

In 2057, massive flood-control structures protecting New York City from the rising seas required a redirecting of the Hudson and East Rivers northeast, into Long Island Sound. The resulting dams—the construction of which triggered small earthquakes throughout New England—allowed for the draining of the old riverbed south and east of Manhattan, revealing the unearthly geological circumstances on which this archipelagic metropolis sits.

Sounds similar to Atlantropa, but smaller and less audacious.

Ian Austen, reporting for the New York Times:

There is no precise ranking of the world’s most deadly cities for migratory birds, but Toronto is considered a top contender for the title. When a British nature documentary crew wanted to film birds killed by crashes into glass, Daniel Klem Jr., an ornithologist at Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pa., who has been studying the issue for about 40 years, directed them here, where huge numbers of birds streaking through the skies one moment can be plummeting toward the concrete the next.

Mark Fischetti:

Hurricane Sandy has emboldened more scientists to directly link climate change and storms, without the hedge. 

Brandon Keim, reporting for Wired:

The Marsden Farm experiment, which is described in a study published Oct. 10 in Public Library of Science One, started in 2003, when Davis was a graduate student under agronomist Matt Liebman of Iowa State University. Liebman’s specialty is integrated pest management, or strategies that use nature to accomplish what’s typically done with pesticides, herbicides and synthetic fertilizer.

Mitch Smith, reporting for the Chicago Tribune:

Despite a four-state buffer between Chicago and the Atlantic Ocean, Sandy will affect weather patterns in Chicago. The National Weather Service issued a lakeshore flood warning for Lake Michigan that will be in effect from 1 a.m. Tuesday until 4 p.m. Wednesday. Waves fueled by Sandy’s winds could increase in size quickly by Monday night, National Weather Service meteorologist Richard Castro warned.

The Cook County coastline will likely see waves of 16 to 22 feet. A typical windy day in Chicago might bring waves of 4 to 6 feet, Castro said.

(Via Maggie Koerth-Baker.)

Don Rogerson:

It is interesting to compare the evacuation map to a 1776 map of the island before much of the coastline was augmented by landfill. The eastern line of Zone A along the Hudson River runs along Greenwich Street, which was at the waterfront in 1776. The old slips on the East River extend inland to Queen Street, now Pearl Street, which is near where Zone A runs along the East River.

(Via Sarah Laskow.)

I’ve linked to the Hint.fm live wind map before, but it seems particularly germane to post a still from today. The average wind speed across the United States is 10 miles per hour, and you’ll notice much of the Southwest is relatively still. Sandy is one big, windy storm.

The shutdown of the MTA in New York City has left the usually bustling stations deserted. Just over two hours until the same happens here in Boston.