In a Summer of deadly deluges, new research shows how global warming fuels flooding

(Inside Climate News, 25 Aug 2021) New attribution research shows that climate change primed the pump and increased the odds of deadly July floods in northwestern Europe.

While global warming shifts some parts of the world into an age of persistent fires, others have been ravaged by intensifying rainfall and deadly floods, sure signs that Earth’s water cycle is becoming more volatile, with increasingly intense rain and floods punctuating longer dry periods.

Most recently, at least 21 people died in Aug. 21 flooding in Tennessee after 17 inches of rain fell in less than a day, by far the highest rainfall total recorded in the state for a 24-hour period. Right around the same time, New York City reported it’s greatest-ever 24-hour rainfall total.

In June, floods in Chad displaced about 20,000 people after destroying more than 4,000 houses and 30 schools. In July and August, widespread Northern Hemisphere flooding killed more than 300 people in northwestern Europe, at least 81 in Turkey and more than 300 in China’s Henan province.

“It’s been relentless and bad, and we’ve been seeing an onslaught all around the world,” said flood researcher Hannah Cloke, with the University of Reading. “We’re seeing the future now. With global warming, we’re cascading very rapidly into a future of more rainfall and more flooding.” 

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Inside Climate News, 25 Aug 2021: In a Summer of deadly deluges, new research shows how global warming fuels flooding