New research published today shows that if it were not for the impact of climate change, up to 50 percent of residences in Houston’s Harris County would not have been flooded by Hurricane Harvey five years ago.
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is dealing with a second catastrophic weather event in just a matter of months. Back in December, areas of Western Kentucky were decimated by some of the strongest tornadoes to hit the state in recent memory. This time, Eastern Kentucky has been hit with devastation, with the damage and casualties from these historic floods spanning across multiple counties.
The pictures coming out of the impacted areas have overwhelmed the entire state with grief for their neighbors who will feel the effects of this tragedy for months and years to come.
California’s McKinney Fire grew to become the state’s largest fire so far this year. The risk of wildfire is rising globally due to climate change. Below are some of the latest articles that have been added to the Wildfires channel on Newswise.
Today, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced $10 million in funding for 12 projects to universities, academic institutions, federal research labs, and nonprofits within the area of Environmental System Science (ESS) research. Grants will focus on studies intended to improve the understanding and representation of the impact of wildfires and floods on ecosystems and watersheds, as well the role of plant-mediated water redistribution and fungal networks in shaping ecosystem and watershed function.
Flooding can be devastating on many levels. Two West Virginia University Extension officials say precautions should be taken so that livestock do not get ill by feeding on materials that have been contaminated by soil, bacteria and flood debris contained in floodwaters.
Despite decades of research, what will happen to rainfall in years to come remains unknown, and severe floods as well as prolonged droughts are already defying expectations. Today, in a paper published in Nature Climate Change, experts argue that the answers exist but a huge joint international investment in resources, expertise, and infrastructure – amounting to an estimated $250 million annually – is urgently needed to develop much more advanced climate models.
Flood frequency analysis is a technique used to estimate flood risk, providing statistics such as the “100-year flood” or “500-year flood” that are critical to infrastructure design, dam safety analysis, and flood mapping in flood-prone areas.
Argonne is working with local jurisdictions to develop dam-related emergency action plans through FEMA’s Collaborative Technical Assistance (CTA) program.
As Australia continues to mop up after one of the wettest years on record, councils might want to consider a new flood mitigation strategy proposed by UniSA engineers - permeable pavements to suit specific soil and rainfall conditions.
A new study has revealed super cyclones, the most intense form of tropical storm, are likely to have a much more devastating impact on people in South Asia in future years.
The latest U.N. report on climate change documented researchers’ efforts that have shown some measures of global warming are now unavoidable, and current research efforts are focusing on mitigation and adaptation strategies.
New research, led by Dr Petra Holden from the African Climate and Development Initiative (ACDI) at the University of Cape Town (UCT), has shown how catchment restoration – through the management of alien tree infestation in the mountains of the southwestern Cape – could have lessened the impact of climate change on low river flows during the Cape Town “Day Zero” drought.
Brianna Rick, a doctoral student in the Department of Geosciences at Colorado State University, has been conducting research in Alaska for several years.
Climate change could result in the financial toll of flooding rising by more than a quarter in the United States by 2050 – and disadvantaged communities will bear the biggest brunt, according to new research.
ASU News enlisted the state’s climatologist and a tourism expert to discuss this year’s cause and effects of snow, or lack thereof, and the impacts to our water supply and economy.
Flooding is the most expensive natural disaster in the United States, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), costing the country more than $1 trillion in inflation-adjusted dollars since 1980. Rising sea level and more intense storms could be devastating for the more than 40 percent of Americans who live in coastal areas.
Climate change and warmer conditions have altered snow-driven extremes and previous studies predict less and slower snowmelt in the northern United States and Canada. However, mixed-phase precipitation—shifting between snow and rain—is increasing, especially in higher elevations, making it more challenging to predict future snowmelt, a dominant driver of severe flooding. Researchers at the University of New Hampshire took a closer look at previous studies, and because geographical areas respond differently to climate change, they found future snowmelt incidences could vary greatly by the late 21st century. Snowmelt could decrease over the continental U.S. and southern Canada but increase in Alaska and northern Canada resulting in larger flooding vulnerabilities and possibly causing major societal and economic consequences including costly infrastructure failures.
Climate change is fueling more floods, droughts, wildfires, and extreme storms across the United States. As a result, aging power grids are being pushed beyond their limits, sometimes with deadly impacts. (In 2020, a series of unusual winter storms knocked the power out in Texas for days -- leading to shortages of water and heat and more than 100 deaths.)
Unless climate change is slowed significantly, more than three feet of sea level rise (SLR) is expected in California by the end of the century, potentially flooding communities that are currently home to more than 145,000 residents.
In addition to the threat to residential neighborhoods, new research suggests sea level rise will expose over 400 industrial facilities and contaminated sites in California, including power plants, refineries, and hazardous waste sites, to increased risk of flooding. Increased flooding can come with risks of contamination releases into nearby communities.
Rivers flowing from the Tibetan Plateau and the surrounding high Asian mountains which support one-third of the world’s population have experienced rapid increases in annual water and sediment runoff since the 1990s, and the volume of sediment washed downstream could more than double by 2050 under the worst-case scenario, a team of scientists has found.
A new study co-authored by the University of Delaware's A.R. Siders revealed growing evidence that people and organizations are responding to climate change with a wide range of actions, but noted far fewer studies explore whether these actions actually reduce risks associated with climate change.
Whether the result of tidal flooding, extreme events like Hurricanes Henri and Ida, or more frequent cloudbursts, flooding affects public health and safety, mobility, infrastructure, and the city’s economy.
Incorporating green infrastructure into flood protection plans alongside gray infrastructure can shield communities, reduce maintenance, and provide additional social and environmental benefits.
New Jersey’s tidal marshes aren’t keeping up with sea level rise and may disappear completely by the next century, according to a study led by Rutgers researchers. The findings, which include potential solutions for preserving the marshlands, appear in the journal Anthropocene Coasts.
IU professor Justin T. Maxwell's paper "Recent increases in tropical cyclone precipitation extremes of the U.S. East Coast" provides data on inland flooding that could help communities be more prepared for the high amounts of rainfall produced by storms such as Hurricane Ida in the United States.
On 14 July 2021, between 60 and 180 mm of rain fell in the Eifel region in just 22 hours - an amount that would otherwise have fallen in several months and which led to catastrophic flooding.
After a summer of high heat, steady sea level rise and devastating hurricanes, coastal roads have continued to take a severe beating resulting in endless wear and tear. Because these roadways have become increasingly vulnerable, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has awarded a $1.8 million grant to researchers at the University of New Hampshire to study how and why coastal hazards like excessive flooding are causing roads to crack and crumble and find ways to protect them.
In the months that follow, after the recovery crews have packed up and gone home, hopelessness and isolation set in for many disaster victims. These are the times when mental health support is needed most, according to a WVU researcher.
A research team led by Michael Biggerstaff, a professor of meteorology in the College of Atmospheric and Geographic Sciences at the University of Oklahoma, successfully captured data with mobile radars and other weather instruments as Hurricane Ida made landfall in Louisiana.
By: Bill Wellock | Published: August 31, 2021 | 12:21 pm | SHARE: For many people, choosing whether to evacuate in the face of an incoming hurricane or other natural disaster is not an easy decision.Hurricanes threaten people and property, but evacuation also carries risks and costs, especially if a would-be evacuee has difficulty moving or caring for themselves without help.