Tropical Storm Chris  is starting to get legs in the Caribbean as it nears the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. As Chris approaches the Gulf , the warm waters there may fuel the storm to hurricane power. This hurricane season has had no catastrophe so far; there was a lot of concern at the outset due to last year's overwhelming damage.

Meanwhile, back at the National Hurricane Center in West Miami-Dade, Chris Landsea will publish an article in Science  this week that challenges the connection  between climate change and hurricanes. Basically, Landsea claims, the changes in hurricane strength reflect changes in measuring hurricanes. In short, maybe the planet isn't so crazy as all that, and some years are just worse than others.

Good, bad or in-between, storms affect the environment where they hit. Last year's 'canes affected birds to be sure, which has an effect on those microbial environments that ride aboard migrating and displaced birds. Spread of the dreaded West Nile virus is affected in turn , and the recent heat might make this a bad year for it . But the good news is that bird flu, which had newscasters in a tizzy last winter, might not be so bad after all . Turns out a little bug spray is a strong personal act in disaster response.

Ah, balance . ...

I myself am more concerned with reactions to events by human organisms. Heat, displacement, and too much TV takes its toll after a while. Or maybe we are just the strangest creatures in the habitat!