Tuesday 24 May 2022

Could go either way - make up your own mind.

From Euronews:

What role does climate change play in Germany's severe flooding?

How is climate change affecting flooding?

The likelihood of flooding is significantly increased due to the extreme weather patterns caused by global climate change. Changes in the geography of the land also have a part to play in increasing flooding. With certain vegetation and other land barriers being broken down as a result of changing temperatures and freak weather patterns, many of the natural preventative measures against flooding are no longer there.

Higher temperatures mean higher rainfall

America is experiencing its hottest June on record and as a result of this heatwave, we’re experiencing higher air and water temperatures, increasing evaporation. With increased evaporation comes increased rainfall, with longer durations as well as higher intensity and frequency too.


That article contained a link to another article on Euronews:

The longest river in Italy is drying up. What does this mean for those who rely on it for food?

This is a sign of climate change

These record-low water levels, which the AIPO would normally only measure in August, are partly a result of the lack of rainfall that northern Italy has been suffering. “Normally it should rain once every one or two weeks,” says Mantovani, “but now it hasn’t rained for three months.”

The problems start, however, in the mountains, where snowfall has been at its lowest for 20 years measuring 50 per cent less than the seasonal average. The glaciers of the Alps, which act as reservoirs to feed the river, are also shrinking each year. On Monte Viso, a mountain close to the French border where the Po River originates, the permafrost is melting and causing chunks of rock to crumble away.

The situation has set alarm bells ringing about the effects climate change could have on an area so heavily dependent upon the river’s waters. This season has already been a stark warning that the warming planet may turn Italy's fertile farmlands and nutrient-rich Delta into a salty wasteland, while putting hundreds of thousands of livelihoods at risk.

3 comments:

Lola said...

FFS

ontheotherhand said...

I got 3 in a row for my Climate-Change-Weather-Somewhere-Hyperbole-BINGO!

severe flooding...extreme weather patterns... freak weather patterns...set alarm bells ringing...stark warning...salty wasteland...livelihoods at risk.

Bayard said...

Wow, two articles on climate change and neither suggesting it was anything but natural.

OTOH, unfortunately, if the climate changes, that is climate change. No matter whether it's getting wetter, dryer, windier, calmer, hotter, colder, it's all change. Indeed even more rainfall in Germany and less in Italy is climate change, because they are both changes to the climates of those respective countries. Once you stop trying to pretend it's something man-made, you can't be wrong.