Page 28 - ARUBA TODAY

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