The storm intensified up until the moment of landfall, achieving category-four strength hours before it slammed into the Texas coast. This also suggests an explanation for one of Harvey’s strangest and scariest behaviors. “Although these storms occur naturally, the storm is apt to be more intense, maybe a bit bigger, longer-lasting, and with much heavier rainfalls. National Center for Atmospheric Research. “This is the main fuel for the storm,” says Kevin Trenberth, a senior scientist at the U.S. The tropical storm, feeding off this unusual warmth, was able to progress from a tropical depression to a category-four hurricane in roughly 48 hours. These waters were some of the hottest spots of ocean surface in the world. As the storm roared toward Houston last week, sea-surface waters near Texas rose to between 2.7 and 7.2 degrees Fahrenheit above average. Harvey benefited from unusually toasty waters in the Gulf of Mexico. Storms like Harvey are helped by one of the consequences of climate change: As the air warms, some of that heat is absorbed by the ocean, which in turn raises the temperature of the sea’s upper layers. But that phenomenon alone does not explain climate change’s effects on Harvey. This warmer air causes evaporation to happen faster, which can lead to more moisture in the atmosphere. So on avg there's more water vapour for a storm to sweep up & dump now, compared to 70 years ago. These gases prevent some of the sun’s rays from bouncing back into space, trapping heat in the planetary system and raising air temperatures all over the world.Īs the world warms, evaporation speeds up. Climate change is caused by the release of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and methane into the atmosphere. It may not be obvious why global warming has anything to do with hurricane strength. But they say that aspects of the case of Hurricane Harvey-and the recent history of tropical cyclones worldwide-suggest global warming is making a bad situation worse. In an age when the climate is changing rapidly, a natural question to ask is: What role did human-caused global warming play in strengthening this storm?Ĭlimate scientists, who specialize in thinking about the Earth system as a whole, are often reticent to link any one weather event to global climate change. This means that thousands of people-and perhaps tens of thousands of people-are facing a terrifying and all-too-real struggle to survive right now. “Catastrophic flooding is now underway and expected to continue for several days.” (In years of weather reporting, I have never seen a statement this blunt and ominous.) The breadth and intensity of this rainfall are beyond anything experienced before,” said a statement from the National Weather Service. “Local rainfall amounts of 50 inches would exceed any previous Texas rainfall record. Some models suggest that the storm will linger over the area until Wednesday night, dumping 50 inches of water in total on Houston and the surrounding area. The entire Houston metropolitan region is flooding: Interstates are under feet of water, local authorities have asked boat owners to join rescue efforts, and most of the streams and rivers near the city are in flood stage. Every so often, the worst-case scenario comes to pass.Īs of Sunday afternoon, the remnants of Hurricane Harvey seem likely to exceed the worst forecasts that preceded the storm.
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