Devastating Floods
Linked to Climate Change
As predicted floods have been seen worldwide. The autumn and summers of 2021 have witnessed ravaging and deadly floods, cyclones and hurricanes worldwide. Countries most effected by them include United States, Mexico, Germany, France, China, India, Sudan, Nigeria, Uganda, Indonesia, Philippines, Bangladesh, Pakistan and parts of India, besides others, bringing in their wake widespread destruction.
Flash floods occurred in the city of New York in early July 2021. One of the 10 most intense cloud bursts in the past 80 years occurred here causing more than an inch and a half of rain to fall within an hour, causing severe damage and submerging parts of the city.
According to The Indian Express, China’s central Henan province witnessed its heaviest rainfall in 1000 years. According to The Indian Express, Officials have stated that Zhengzhou recorded 617.1 mm rainfall from Saturday to Tuesday, nearly the same as the annual average rainfall in the city (640.8 mm). According to the FloodList, in France, nearly two months of rain fell in just a few hours in Lot-et-Garonne Department in southwestern France late on 08 September 2021. Streets of the city of Agen were inundated with over 2 meters of water.
Devastation occurred in China in Zhengzho, the capital of the Henan province on Tuesday, 20 July 2021 due to flooding. In just one hour, a record 7.95 inches of rain fell between 4 and 5 pm, submerging cars, sweeping residents away and filling subway cars packed with commuters with gushing water that reached their necks.”
Devastating floods are seen worldwide, which
are a direct result of global warming as warmer
atmospheres retain more moisture that falls as
heavy rains. These floods, climate scientists say
should serve as a wake-up call for leaders to take
urgent action on warming temperatures to
protect the planet.
The widespread flooding in China is in part linked to climate change, said Xuebin Zhang, a senior research scientist with Environment and Climate Change Canada, noting, “We don’t usually see that kind of a flood.” He added, “Without the change in climate, you would not see as much precipitation as you see today. Simply because the air is now hotter and it can hold more moisture, as such it will give you more rain in intense storms than before.”
In India, the heaviest monsoon rains in decades took place in the Mumbai region. A weather station, in Mahabaleshwar recorded 23 inches of rainfall causing landslides and leaving entire neighborhoods submerged. (Reuters News Agency Report)
In western Germany and large parts of Europe, heavy floods wiped out villages and reduced some infrastructure to a sea of debris in July 2021. John Butschkowski, a Red Cross driver helping with the German rescue mission told Reuters, “It is inconceivable that this is happening in Germany.”
Ilan Kelman, a professor of disasters and health at University College London, wrote for The Washington Post this week, “No one should assume that we can ever make our abodes completely fireproof, be ready to evacuate safely while being psychologically and financially prepared to return to only ashes. … We must plan better for floods and build our cities and communities to withstand them.”
These floods are a direct result of global warming as warmer atmospheres retain more moisture that falls as heavy rains.
These floods, climate scientists say should serve as a wake-up call for leaders to take urgent action on warming temperatures to protect the planet.
