Tag: Rainfall

What is an atmospheric river?

What is an atmospheric river? A hydrologist explains the good and bad of these flood-prone storms and how they’re changing

Intersections

Qian Cao, University of California, San Diego (from The Conversation) A series of atmospheric rivers is bringing the threat of heavy downpours, flooding, mudslides and avalanches to the Pacific Northwest and California this week [early 2024]. While these storms are dreaded for the damage they can cause, they are also essential to the region’s water supply, particularly in California, as Qian Cao, a hydrologist at…

See more

Looking back on America’s summer of heat, floods and climate change: Welcome to the new abnormal

Intersections

Shuang-Ye Wu, University of Dayton (from The Conversation) The summer of 2022 started with a historic flood in Montana, brought on by heavy rain and melting snow, that tore up roads and caused large areas of Yellowstone National Park to be evacuated. It ended with a record-breaking heat wave in California and much of the West that pushed the power grid to the breaking point,…

See more

Climate change is intensifying the water cycle, bringing more powerful storms and flooding – here’s what the science shows

Intersections

Mathew Barlow, UMass Lowell (from The Conservation) Powerful storm systems triggered flash flooding across the U.S. in late July 2022, killing at least 25 people in eastern Kentucky as floodwater engulfed homes and set off mudslides. Record rainfall also inundated St. Louis neighborhoods, and another deluge in Nevada flooded the Las Vegas strip. The impact of climate change on extreme water-related events like this is…

See more

More droughts and more severe droughts

Featured Article

Most regions on Earth are warmer at present than in past decades and centuries, and many regions are experiencing a drying trend as a result of less rain and snow, more intermittent precipitation (less frequent rain and snow but more intense events) and/or higher rates of evaporation. More climate extremes, including prolonged droughts and heatwaves, have recently occurred across the globe. Moreover, human activity has…

See more

Excessive rainfall: a product of a changing climate

Intersections

Pockets of intense rainfall occurring over a short period of time amid a larger movement toward drought is a signature of a changing climate. For more information, see — Excessive rainfall–the new normal Connections with a changing climate: drought, intense rainfall, and flooding Extreme rainfall will continue Large, intense thunderstorms will happen more frequently Extreme weather and climate change: the connections and impacts (from Science…

See more

Agriculture and climate change: foods for the future

Intersections

Climate change is impacting agriculture around the world. The greater frequency of weather extremes including heatwaves, drought, and it’s opposite, torrential rainfall and flooding (and their consequences) are impacting crop yields and sometimes destroying harvests. The world’s population is growing; how do we feed more people when corporate agricultural practices and a changing climate are impacting the amount of food being grown and produced? One…

See more
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.