There’s a rule of thumb that rainfall intensity increases by about 7% per degree Celsius as temperatures rise. But the increase is much higher in the mountains, scientists found.
Parts of New York’s Hudson Valley were hit with 10 inches of rain, and the mountains of Vermont – where runoff can quickly turn deadly – saw some its worst flooding since Hurricane Irene.
Some were quick to point the finger at climate change when floods hit eastern Australia in February and March 2022, in the lead up to the federal election. But it’s not that simple, scientists say.
Processes like La Niña set the scene for the sort of extreme weather that has hit eastern Australia. But what decides which towns and suburbs are hit hardest, and which ones are spared?
Catchments are full. Dams are at capacity, soils are saturated and rivers are high. In some cases, there’s nowhere for the rains to go except over land.
By following moisture from the oceans to the land, researchers worked out exactly how three oceans conspire to deliver deluges of rain to eastern Australia.
Southern Québec is warming twice as rapidly as the rest of the world due to the progressive loss of snow cover. An average annual warming of 3 C to 6 C is expected by the end of the century.
Water-related hazards are exceptionally destructive, and the impact of climate change on extreme water-related events is increasingly evident, a lead author of the new report warns.