Why Are We Having More Devastating Rainstorms?

Written by Karen Dougherty on Unheating.com (printed with permission)

Horrifying. Heartbreaking. Terrifying. These are some of the words that come to mind every time I think about last weekend’s devastating flooding in Texas. I simply cannot imagine what the families and friends of the victims are going through. 

There was a confluence of factors that led to the tragic floods, and it is too soon to quantify the role climate change played, but we will have that answer once scientists analyze the data. In the meantime, one thing is clear: Climate change is creating the conditions for more extreme weather events like heavy rainstorms.

As Asrum Pathak, director of adaptation and coastal resilience at the National Wildlife Federation so clearly describes the problem: “The atmosphere is like a giant sponge. As the air gets warmer, which is what’s been happening because of climate change, the sponge can hold a lot more water. And then when there’s a storm, the same sponge can squeeze out way more water than it used to.”

Why are we having more devastating rainstorms?

A few concepts are evident:

• The average temperature is rising

• Warmer air holds more water

• Heavy downpours have been increasing

Adaptation and mitigation

There have always been extreme weather events that surprise us with their destruction. However, the frequency and severity of these events are growing. In order to change this trajectory, we need to do two things: adapt to the situation at hand, and work on the root cause to stop the acceleration of warming. 

Adaptation means understanding where vulnerabilities exist, and protecting people and areas at risk of danger. Mitigation refers to reducing the heat-trapping pollution so the temperature stops rising, and eventually reverses. Both of these things are critical, and can be done at the same time if everyone is pulling from the same end of the rope.

What can we do?

The tragedy in Texas is a hot topic of conversation right now. This is a great opportunity to mention the role of climate change in these and other extreme events. It takes courage to speak up, especially if you think someone may have a different views, but the link between warmer air and more intense rainfall is not in dispute. The more we connect climate change to how it affects real people, the more likely we will be to change course.

Let’s do something about climate change. Learn about it. Talk about it. Help solve it.