New York [US], July 22: Fossil fuel pollution and other impacts are turning the summer months into a time of successive heat waves, wildfires and catastrophic flooding, according to CNN.
First, flash floods in Texas killed more than 130 people on the night of the US Independence Day, July 4. On July 8, heavy rains caused flash floods in New Mexico, killing three people. Several major roads in Chicago, Illinois, were suddenly flooded when a "once in a thousand years" rainstorm hit in early July.
In parts of North Carolina, Tropical Storm Chantal brought heavy rain and flooding over the weekend, coinciding with the tragedy in Texas. In New York City, water flooded subway tunnels as the city saw its second-heaviest rainfall in an hour on July 14, with flooding in many areas lasting into the following day. And last week, Kansas was hit by flooding on July 17.
Some floods are the result of "millennium" rains, which have a 0.1% chance of occurring in any given year. But climate change is shaking things up. "When we talk about once-in-a-millennium events, we're talking about the likelihood that the event would have occurred without global warming," said Pennsylvania State University climate scientist Michael Mann, who told CNN. Extreme events are happening more frequently now because of climate change.
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper