Climate Change Could Make Extreme Downpours 3X More Likely, Says Study

"New climate models have allowed scientists to simulate future thunderstorms. Some states already being ravaged by flooding might expect more of the same, if global warming continues at current levels."

"Extreme downpours could happen almost three times as often, and with a 70 percent increase in intensity, throughout the United States by the end of the century as a result of global warming, finds a new study published in the journal Nature Climate Change.

Such storms could be especially common in parts of the Gulf Coast, Atlantic Coast, and Southwest, including in states like Louisiana and Texas, where such downpours have recently caused flooding that forced people from their homes and brought tens of thousands of petitions for flood relief, researchers say.

'These are huge increases,' said lead author Andreas Prein, a scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), in a statement. 'Imagine the most intense thunderstorm you typically experience in a single season. Our study finds that, in the future, parts of the U.S. could expect to experience five of those storms in a season, each with an intensity as strong or stronger than current storms.'"

David Iaconangelo reports for the Christian Science Monitor December 6, 2016.