In the case of Harvey, which is dumping rivers of rain in and around Houston and threatening millions of people with catastrophic flooding (see photos), at least three troubling factors converged. The storm intensified rapidly, it has stalled out over one area, and it is expected to continue dumping record rains for days and days.As the article points out, the big reason for all the damage is the amount of rainfall, resulting in flooding. That too is likely due to climate change. In fact:
Hurricanes tend to weaken as they approach land because they are losing access to the hot, wet ocean air that gives the storms their energy. Harvey's wind speeds, on the other hand, intensified by about 45 miles per hour in the last 24 hours before landfall, according to National Hurricane Center data.
[Kerry Emanuel, an atmospheric sciences professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology,] analyzed the evolution of 6,000 simulated storms, comparing how they evolved under historical conditions of the 20th century, with how they could evolve at the end of the 21st century if greenhouse gas emissions keep rising. The result: A storm that increases its intensity by 60 knots in the 24 hours before landfall may have been likely to occur once a century in the 1900s. By late in this century, they could come every five to 10 years.
Every scientist contacted by National Geographic was in agreement that the volume of rain from Harvey was almost certainly driven up by temperature increases from human carbon-dioxide emissions.This is of course exacerbated by the fact that Harvey has stalled over land. Most hurricanes break apart or move off. Interestingly enough, the article notes that most climate scientists don't think this particular stall can be attributed to climate change, just bad luck; more research is needed, though, because some say climate change could result in changes in pressure fronts, which would impact how long a storm stalls in one place.
The moon will begin to get in the sun’s way over the Pacific Ocean on Monday morning. This will create a zone that scientists call totality — the line where the moon completely blocks the sun, plunging the sea and then a strip of land across the continental United States into a darkness that people and other living things can mistake for premature evening.And I'm also enjoying some great eclipse posts:
Because of planetary geometry, the total eclipse can last less than one minute in some places, and as long as two minutes and 41 seconds in others. The eclipse’s longest point of duration is near a small town called Makanda, Ill., population 600.
And remember...Attacking media for “very unfair” coverage of solar eclipse, Trump said sun equally to blame for blocking moon https://t.co/OFL02AW8AZ pic.twitter.com/Qjo5y4hFvO— Andrew Stroehlein (@astroehlein) August 21, 2017
Old Weather is a gathering place for more than 4,500 citizen-sleuths who are helping climate scientists map our planet’s ancient weather patterns, for free, one logbook at a time. These volunteers read and transcribe notes from sailors, hoping to map the mostly unknown history of our planet’s weather patterns.
According to Kevin Wood, an Old Weather co-founder, examining the past in this way is key to understanding the earth’s future. As Arctic ice begins to melt at faster and faster rates, scientists need to quickly gain a better understanding of climate change and the impact it could have on humans. By looking at past weather events recorded in old ship logbooks, Wood hopes that he and his fellow scientists can learn more about our planet’s traditional weather patterns, which will help them predict extreme weather events like tsunamis and hurricanes.
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