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A28    SCIENCE
              Wednesday 30 august 2017


















                  Scientists say warming makes storms, like Harvey, wetter



            By SETH BORENSTEIN                                                                                                  tic and changes in the jet
             AP Science Writer                                                                                                  stream  and  the  weather
            WASHINGTON  (AP)  —  By                                                                                             patterns  that  make  these
            the  time  the  rain  stops,                                                                                        “blocking   fronts”   more
            Harvey  will  have  dumped                                                                                          common.
            about  1  million  gallons                                                                                          Others,  like  Masters,  con-
            of  water  for  every  man,                                                                                         tend  it’s  too  early  to  say.
            woman and child in south-                                                                                           University  of  Washington
            eastern  Texas  —  a  soggy,                                                                                        atmospheric  scientist  Cliff
            record-breaking    glimpse                                                                                          Mass said climate change
            of the wet and wild future                                                                                          is  simply  not  powerful
            global   warming     could                                                                                          enough  to  create  off-the-
            bring, scientists say.                                                                                              chart  events  like  Harvey’s
            While scientists are quick to                                                                                       rainfall.
            say climate change didn’t                                                                                           “You really can’t pin global
            cause  Harvey  and  that                                                                                            warming on something this
            they  haven’t  determined                                                                                           extreme. It has to be natu-
            yet whether the storm was                                                                                           ral  variability,”  Mass  said.
            made  worse  by  global                                                                                             “It  may  juice  it  up  slightly
            warming,  they  do  note                                                                                            but  not  create  this  phe-
            that warmer air and water                                                                                           nomenal anomaly.”
            mean  wetter  and  possibly   Volunteer rescue boats make their way into a flooded subdivision to rescue stranded residents as   “We’re  breaking  one  re-
            more intense hurricanes in   floodwaters from Tropical Storm Harvey rise Monday, Aug. 28, 2017, in Spring, Texas.   cord after another with this
            the future.                                                                                        Associated Press  thing,” Mass said.
            “This is the kind of thing we                                                                                       Sometime     Tuesday    or
            are going to get more of,”                                                                                          early  Wednesday,  parts
            said  Princeton  University   holds more water. With ev-  than 300 feet (100 meters)  There’s  a  lot  of  debate   of  the  Houston  region  will
            climate  scientist  Michael   ery degree Fahrenheit, the  deep  in  the  Gulf,  accord-  among   climate   scien-   have  broken  the  nearly
            Oppenheimer.  “This  storm   atmosphere can hold and  ing  to  University  of  Miami  tists  over  what  role,  if  any,   40-year-old  U.S.  record  for
            should serve as warning.”    then  dump  an  additional  hurricane  researcher  Brian  global warming may have      the heaviest rainfall from a
            There’s  a  scientifically  ac-  4 percent of water (7 per-  McNoldy.                  played  in  causing  Harvey   tropical system — 48 inch-
            cepted  method  for  de-     cent for every degree Cel-   Several  studies  show  that  to  stall  over  Texas,  which   es  (120  centimeters),  set
            termining  if  some  wild    sius), several scientists say.  the  top  1  percent  of  the  was  a  huge  factor  in  the   by Tropical Storm Amelia in
            weather  event  has  the     Global     warming     also  strongest  downpours  are  catastrophic  flooding.  If    1978  in  Texas,  several  me-
            fingerprints  of  man-made   means  warmer  seas,  and  already  happening  much  the  hurricane  had  moved        teorologists say.
            climate  change,  and  it    warm  water  is  what  fuels  more  frequently.  Also,  cal-  on  like  a  normal  storm,  it   Already  15  trillion  gallons
            involves  intricate  calcu-  hurricanes.                  culations done Monday by  wouldn’t have dumped as         (57 trillion liters) of rain have
            lations.  Those  could  take   When  Harvey  moved  to-   MIT  meteorology  professor  much rain in any one spot.   fallen on a large area, and
            weeks  or  months  to  com-  ward  Texas,  water  in  the  Kerry  Emanuel  show  that  Harvey stalled because it is   an additional 5 trillion or 6
            plete,  and  then  even  lon-  Gulf  of  Mexico  was  nearly  the drenching received by  sandwiched  between  two   trillion  gallons  are  forecast
            ger to be checked by oth-    2  degrees  (1  degree  Cel-  Rockport,  Texas,  used  to  high-pressure  fronts  that   by the end of Wednesday,
            er scientists.               sius)  warmer  than  normal,  be maybe a once-in-1,800-   push  it  in  opposite  direc-  meteorologist  Ryan  Maue
            In general, though, climate   said Weather Underground  years  event  for  that  city,  tions,  and  those  fronts  are   of  WeatherBell  Analytics
            scientists agree that future   meteorology  director  Jeff  but with warmer air holding  stuck.                     calculates.  That’s  enough
            storms  will  dump  much     Masters.  Hurricanes  need  more  water  and  changes  Oppenheimer  and  some          water to fill all the NFL and
            more  rain  than  the  same   at  least  79  degrees  F  (26  in  storm  steering  currents  others theorize that there’s   Division  1  college  football
            size storms did in the past.  C)  as  fuel,  and  water  at  since 2010, it is now a once-  a  connection  between   stadiums  more  than  100
            That’s because warmer air    least  that  warm  ran  more  every-300-years event.      melting sea ice in the Arc-  times over.q
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