And when significant rainfall happens in a short period, flash flooding becomes more likely. As a result, when rainstorms happen on a warmer planet, they drop more rain. These extreme events are expected to increase because of a simple fact of physics: the warmer the ocean, the more water that evaporates into the air and the warmer the air, the more moisture it holds. The study found that most of that additional precipitation will come from an increase in the number of days with extreme precipitation, though it also projects a small increase in the amount of rain or snow on each extreme precipitation day. And if worldwide fossil fuel use continues to rise through the end of the century, the Northeast can expect an average of 52 percent more extreme precipitation, compared with the period from 1976 through 2005, according to a study released earlier this summer. Another study, published last year, found that floods in the United States could become 7.9 percent “flashier” - meaning more sudden - by the end of the century in a scenario in which emissions continue unchecked.Īlready, these flash floods seem to be happening more frequently. In a 2020 study, Dougherty and a coauthor found that by the end of the century, the Eastern United States could experience a nearly 18 percent increase in both rainfall and runoff under a worst-case scenario of global warming. “The fact that you’re seeing these extreme events - record-breaking events, record-breaking temperatures - really suggests that these events are being exacerbated by climate change and by warmer temperatures,” said Erin Dougherty, a hydrometeorologist studying the current and future climate at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Colorado. Dozens of people died in flooding in southern Brazil, and catastrophic flooding hit Spain, too, in recent weeks. In Asia, Hong Kong and southern China saw extreme rainfall and flooding in recent days. In Greece, entire towns in the Thessalian plain are underwater from the same storm that also devastated parts of Turkey and Bulgaria. Thousands are feared dead in Libya, where two dams burst following torrential rains. The same storm brought devastating floods to Western Massachusetts, where some farmers lost their livelihoods under inches of water, and to New York’s Hudson Valley.Īnd as the Northeast on Wednesday experienced another round of rainfall, other parts of the globe are also underwater. It’s the latest in a season of extremes, in which Massachusetts saw its second-rainiest June through August, the planet had its hottest summer on record by a large margin, and ocean surface temperatures soared.Įarlier this summer, as much as 9 inches of rain fell across parts of Vermont over 48 hours, resulting in flash floods that washed out roads, necessitated more than 200 urban and swift water boat rescues, and flooded downtown Montpelier.
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