As evidenced by headlines like this (from CNN), this (from the Chicago Tribune) and this (from the Macon, Ga., Telegraph), right now the dominant sensory input in the Big Easy is Big Stinky.

Lucky-by-comparison Houston, which got sideswiped by Katrina´s less nasty but still pretty mean little sister Rita, finds itself in considerably less dire circumstances than New Orleans. But Houston´s road ahead is no stroll through an azalea patch, either. The Houston Chronicle reports that Harris County, which encompasses the city, incurred an estimated $111 million in damage, $75 million of which consists of spoiled food thrown out by supermarkets and convenience stores.

And Houston officials estimate that Rita created 25,000 to 35,000 cubic yards of debris that will have to be carted away and disposed of.

The Chronicle also editorializes with some skepticism about Houston´s recent suspension of its never-exactly-robust curbside recycling program -- a deferral that the city pledges will be very short-lived.

The Washington Post ran an interesting editorial Saturday about the debate swirling around global warming and its effect, or not, on hurricane intensity. The gist of the piece goes like this. Those who say climate change is making hurricanes more frequent are fools, troublemakers, or a combination of the two. On the other hand, the theory that climate change could be affecting hurricanes´ severity is more likely, though at this point it´s still circumstantial: We have had a spate of destructive storms, and the oceans have gotten both warmer and higher.

That may be coincidence, and it may not. And the sooner science gets a better handle on this, the sooner everyone can stop squawking and start talking sensibly about what does or doesn´t need to be done about it.

Pete Fehrenbach is assistant managing editor of Waste News. Past installments of this column are collected in the Inbox archive.