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.
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Articles on Heavy rainfall
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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.
Globally, the air is getting hotter and drier, which means flash droughts and risky fire conditions are developing faster and more frequently.
The Met Office has predicted that England is to be affected by flooding this February.
The report synthesises the latest science about Australia’s climate – and paints a worrying picture.
The growing threat of flash flooding as a result of more intense rapid rain bursts means the city needs to update its flood defences.
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.
Storms and flash floods often follow a heatwave.
Extreme downpours caught people off guard from Las Vegas to Kentucky in July 2022.
Extreme downpours brought deadly flooding to the Appalachian region, just a few weeks after the destructive Yellowstone River flood.
Driving into floodwater is the leading cause of flood-related death. So why do people do it?
South Africa’s dams are overflowing but the country is still facing water supply challenges.
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.
As history shows, many natural and human factors determine how water will behave during a flood.
Many farmers are welcoming an expected summer of La Niña rain, while others have been hit by heavy rain and floods
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.
The NSW floods are a textbook example of the theoretical impacts we can expect on Australian rainfall as climate change continues.
Top contributors
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Professor of Climate Science, UMass Lowell
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Climate Scientist, Australian Bureau of Meteorology
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Lecturer, Monash University
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Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Atmospheric Sciences, Monash University
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Professor of Atmospheric Sciences, Climate Change Research Centre, UNSW Sydney
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Climate Scientist, Australian Bureau of Meteorology
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Head of Operational Climate Services, Australian Bureau of Meteorology
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Senior Lecturer in Climate Science, The University of Melbourne
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Climate scientist, Australian Bureau of Meteorology
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Honorary Senior Research Fellow, University of Wollongong
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Adjunct Professor, Monash University
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Senior Lecturer in Climate Science, Australian National University
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Professor, Water and Landscape Dynamics, Fenner School of Environment & Society, Australian National University
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Senior Lecturer, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, UNSW Sydney
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Assistant Professor of Climate and Space Sciences Engineering, University of Michigan
