You Haven't Seen The Worst Of Extreme Flooding [PRESENTATION]

[xchrom]

http://www.businessinsider.com/climate-changes-leads-to-heavy-rains-and-downpours-2012-8?op=1

Scientists have previously suggested that climate change leads to heavy rain and flooding. A new study provides more evidence of this link.

The study, "When It Rains, It Pours: Global Warming and the Increase in Extreme Precipitation from 1948 to 2011," analyzed more than 80 million daily precipitation records from weather stations across the United States and found that extreme downpours are now happening 30 percent more often nationwide than in 1948.

The alarming research suggests that humans curb emissions to hold off a public health crisis.


A warmer atmosphere evaporates water more quickly and holds more moisture, which increases the frequency and intensity of the biggest rain and snow storms.


Large rain or snowstorms that happened once every 12 months, on average, in the middle of the 20th century now happen every nine months.


***more graphs at link

[DCKit]

1. Jeebus, I've been saying that for years. It's not the averages, it's the incidents.

June 29th in western VA was a real wake-up call. I've never seen a storm that frightened me, until then. We had another Derecho move through last Thursday evening, just not a severe... but it gained some serious strength by the time it hit NYC. Two of them in 27 days. Yeah, that's normal.

Severe weather is going to become the norm from here on out. We're going to have to move underground.

[friendly_iconoclast]

2. I've felt for *years* that the Northeast US would become more like the Northwest Coast

Not every area would have decreased rainfall in a GW world...

[flamingdem]

3. Good grief, I was in Vermont for the flooding

and listening to hourly updates waiting to see if a dam would break and inundate the town where I used to live. It's very easy to believe it was something that happens every few decades but sadly I doubt this now.

[RobertEarl]

4. Makes sense

One weather factor is the boundary line between cold and warm air which creates surface weather events.

As the global surface air warms, surface differences decrease.

Warm moist air rises. Now it must rise even higher in the atmosphere in order for it to freeze. Higher means more possible icing leading to more hail and more violent forcing of the air masses; resulting in fiercer storms.

There was a thread here about how moisture higher in the atmosphere is causing ozone layer problems. I'll go look.

I found it:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/112720718