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Former Vice President Al Gore warned in a blog post today that Hurricane Sandy is a "disturbing sign of things to come" if the world doesn't quit "dirty energy."

At 1:21 p.m. ET, with large swaths of the Northeast still swimming in the storm's mess, the Current TV founder and environmental activist published a statement asking the public to "heed this warning and act quickly to solve the climate crisis."

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"Sandy was also affected by other symptoms of the climate crisis," Gore wrote. "As the hurricane approached the East Coast, it gathered strength from abnormally warm coastal waters. At the same time, Sandy's storm surge was worsened by a century of sea level rise. Scientists tell us that if we do not reduce our emissions, these problems will only grow worse."

Gore isn't the only politician tying Sandy's wrath to global climate change.

"What's clear is that the storms that we've experienced in the last year or so around this country and around the world are much more severe than before," New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said at a briefing today. "Whether that's global warming or what, I don't know. But we'll have to address those issues."

N.Y. Gov. Andrew Cuomo, an early favorite in the 2016 Democratic presidential primary, expressed similar concerns, quipping that New Yorkers "have a 100-year flood every two years now."

Cuomo also suggested the state could look into the construction of levees to prevent future flooding.

"It is something we're going to have to start thinking about," Cuomo told reporters. "The construction of this city did not anticipate these kinds of situations. We are only a few feet above sea level."

Gore made some headlines after the first presidential debate when he blamed President Obama's muted performance on a different kind of change in the climate.

"I'm going to say something controversial here," he said to his Current TV roundtable-mates. "Obama arrived in Denver at 2 p.m. today - just a few hours before the debate started. Romney did his debate prep in Denver. When you go to 5,000 feet, and you only have a few hours to adjust - I don't know…"