Home News Texas Study: Climate change added 10% to Hurricane Ian’s rainfall

Study: Climate change added 10% to Hurricane Ian’s rainfall

Study: Climate change added 10% to Hurricane Ian’s rainfall

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Researchers in contrast peak rainfall charges throughout the true storm to completely different pc situations of a mannequin in a world with no human-caused local weather change.

FLORIDA, USA — Climate change added at the very least 10% extra rain to Hurricane Ian, a examine ready instantly after the storm exhibits.

Thursday’s analysis, which isn’t peer-reviewed, in contrast peak rainfall charges throughout the true storm to about 20 completely different pc situations of a mannequin with Hurricane Ian’s traits slamming into the Sunshine State in a world with no human-caused local weather change.

“The actual storm was 10% wetter than the storm that may have been,’’ stated Lawrence Berkeley National Lab local weather scientist Michael Wehner, examine co-author.

Forecasters predicted Ian may have dropped up to two toes (61 centimeters) of rain in components of Florida by the point it stopped.

Wehner and Kevin Reed, an atmospheric scientist at Stony Brook University, published a study in Nature Communications earlier this yr wanting on the hurricanes of 2020 and located throughout their rainiest three-hour intervals they have been greater than 10% wetter than in a world with out greenhouse gases trapping warmth. Wehner and Reed utilized the identical scientifically accepted attribution approach to Hurricane Ian.

An extended-time rule of physics is that for each additional diploma of heat Celsius (1.8 levels Fahrenheit), the air within the environment can maintain 7% extra water. This week the Gulf of Mexico was 0.8 levels hotter than regular, which ought to have meant about 5% extra rain. Reality turned out to be even worse. The flash examine discovered the hurricane dropped double that — 10% extra rain.

Ten p.c could not sound like so much, however 10% of 20 inches is 2 inches, which is a number of rain, particularly on high of the 20 inches that already fell, Reed stated.

Other research have seen the identical suggestions mechanisms of stronger storms in hotter climate, stated Princeton University atmospheric scientist Gabriel Vecchi, who wasn’t a part of the examine.

MIT hurricane researcher Kerry Emanuel stated basically, a hotter world does make storms rainier. But he stated he’s uncomfortable drawing conclusions about particular person storms.

“This business above very very heavy rain is something we’ve expected to see because of climate change,” he stated. “We’ll see more storms like Ian.”

Princeton’s Vecchi stated in an electronic mail that if the world goes to bounce again from disasters “we need to plan for wetter storms going forward, since global warming isn’t going to go away.”

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story by The Texas Tribune Source link

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