Deluges and Climate Change (AAAS)

 

 

Climate Change and Deluges

 

Have you noticed the Midwest has had more extreme rain events in recent years? Duluth, Saxon Harbor, the Porcupine Mountains, and the Houghton Deluges are a few of the “rain events” that hit us. If you did notice and wondered if these storms are enhanced by climate change here is your confirmation from the scientists at The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Sci-line.

 

“A growing percentage of U.S. precipitation now comes in the form of extreme events, with human-caused climate change directly responsible for much of this increase. Heavy rain contributes to flooding that is damaging buildings and roads, eroding soil, flushing pollutants into waterways in many parts of the United States, as well as straining the nation’s aging dam network.

 

Rising air temperatures, caused primarily by the build-up of heat-trapping gases due to fossil fuel burning, are increasing evaporation from soil, plants, lakes, and oceans. Warm air holds more moisture than cooler air, creating a greater atmospheric reservoir of water vapor for release during rain and snow storms. For every 1ºC (1.8ºF) increase in atmospheric temperature, the air holds 6% to 7% more water vapor, causing downpour intensity to increase.

 

Heavy rains are getting heavier. Looking at the top 1% of rainfall events, as measured by the amount of rain that fell within a 24-hour period, the amount of precipitation falling in these heavy events has increased substantially across the United States since the 1950s — by 55% in the Northeast, 42% in the Midwest, 27% in the Southeast, 29% in the Northern Great Plains, 12% in the Southern Great Plains, 10% in the Southwest, and 9% in the Northwest.

 

Heavy rains are also getting more frequent in many parts of the United States, especially in the Northeast, and covering greater areas of land. The prevalence of record-breaking rainfall events and the amount of land they drenched was constant for most of the 20th century, but has doubled since the 1970s.

Heavy rains are often lasting longer, too. Recent evidence suggests that climate-change-related atmospheric conditions may be causing storms to get “stuck” in place, causing them to linger longer over a given geographic region and lead to flooding. 

Climate-change-related increases in heavy rain intensity and frequency, and the lingering persistence of these weather events over affected areas, have exacerbated flooding across the United States, especially in the Midwest, increasing the number of cities and expanses of land now at high risk. In coastal areas, rainfall-related flooding is exacerbating the documented doubling of high-tide-flooding caused by sea level rise over the past 30 years.” 

 

If you have questions contact me at climatelynx@earthlink.net

Warm regards, Cool planet, Vote Climate

Grey

 

The American Association of Science (AAAS) was founded in 1848 and is the largest general science organization in the world. It promotes science and, in the recent anti-science years, has focused on defending scientists. Its world-renowned “Science” magazine is published by the AAAS and distributed to its 120,000 members, of which, I am a proud member.

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