For years, scientists have warned that humanity’s greenhouse gas emissions, primarily from burning fossil fuels, would raise the risk of flooding around the country
Tennessee floods show a pressing climate danger across America. With literally ‘walls of water, ’ climate change has entered America for sure.
Flash floods in Trace Creek have torn through towns on Aug 21. More than 17 inches of rain fell in a single day on Saturday. Within a few hours, many areas were submerged, including those not previously considered floodplains.
The damage was big. At least 21 people were dead, and hundreds of homes were in shambles.
These flash floods reveal how climate change poses threats even in inland areas. A warmer atmosphere with more water and crumbling infrastructure is steadily making such disasters common occurrences. Americans clearly are not prepared for the coming deluge.
According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, damage from inland floods costs more than any other severe weather event. “There is no place in the United States where you shouldn’t be resetting your expectations about Mother Nature disrupting your life,” said Roy Wright, president of the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety and former head of FEMA’s National Flood Insurance Program. “Climate change has come barging through the front doors of America.”
In Tennessee, families described waking in the middle of the night to the sound of floodwaters surging into their homes. People attempting to drive to safety drowned when the torrent swept away their vehicles.
These are signs that scientists and public officials need better ways to educate people about flood safety, Wright said.
For years, scientists have warned that humanity’s greenhouse gas emissions, primarily from burning fossil fuels, would raise the risk of flooding around the country. Melting glaciers may suddenly collapse, unleashing torrents of rock, water and ice.
The complex array of factors that contribute to a flood can complicate efforts to quantify climate change’s role. But research shows that warming makes events significantly more extreme
Intense heatwaves in the spring and early summer can accelerate snowmelt, sending icy waters cascading through communities.
This happened in British Columbia in June. Unrelenting downpours can occur during hurricanes along the East Coast or monsoons in the Southwest, but climate change makes it possible even during a regular rainstorm. The complex array of factors that contribute to a flood can complicate efforts to quantify climate change’s role. But research shows that warming makes events significantly more extreme.
The floods that people lived through in the past are no match for the events that are happening today. When rainfall exceeds a landscape’s capacity to absorb it, the water starts to gush toward the lowest point it can reach. Steep hills and narrow canyons will accelerate the flow while converging tributaries can funnel rain that has fallen across a vast area into a single spot.
