Roughly one month after the extreme downpour that hit Duluth and other communities in Minnesota, causing $100 million in damages, Environment Minnesota Research and Policy Center released a new report that documents one more way global warming is affecting our lives — an increase in the frequency and intensity of extreme rainstorms.
Our report, entitled "When It Rains, It Pours," found that storms with heavy rain are happening 30 percent more frequently in Minnesota now than they were 65 years ago. In other words, an extreme rainstorm that used to hit Minnesota once every 12 months on average now occurs every 9.2 months on average.
Scientists tell us that the trend toward heavier rainstorms is clearly linked to global warming, as warming increases evaporation and enables the air to hold more water, providing more fuel for these heavier rainstorms.
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2012/08/13/bradley/
No comments:
Post a Comment