Friday, March 07, 2014

America Could Soon Face More Days of Extreme Rainfall

Difference in number of days of heaviest rain (Credit: NOAA) Click to enlarge.
Squelch, squelch, squelch — that could be the sound of future America, if predictions about how climate change will ramp up “extreme rainfall” prove accurate.

Say the world’s nations do little to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases pouring into the atmosphere. By the years 2041 to 2070, the warmer climate could bring torrential downpours to vast parts of the United States, as shown in this model from NOAA.  Dark-blue splashes depict areas that might see as many as two or more days a year of extreme rain, defined as “rainfall totals in excess of the historic 98th percentile.”  (This is against a 1971 to 2000 baseline.)  Cities that should maybe consider wooing the umbrella-manufacturing industry include Seattle, Wash.; Portland, Ore.; Boise, Idaho; Richmond, Va.; and much of the Northeast.

America Could Soon Face More Days of Extreme Rainfall

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