“Megadrought” may be the main climate concern in the West right now amid the constant threat of wildfires and earthquakes. But a new study warns of another disaster looming in California: “Megafloods.”
Climate change is increasing the risk of future floods that could inundate large cities and displace millions of people in California, according to a new study released Friday.
A major hurricane this month could bring feet of rain — in some places, more than 100 inches — to hundreds of miles of California. Similar to the relentless storms that happened in the past, before the region became a place for tens of millions of people.
Currently, each degree of global warming is significantly increasing the severity and size of the next megaflood, the study said.
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In a future scenario, where the flood occurs in a warming world, “the series of storms is better in almost every direction,” said Daniel Swain, UCLA climate scientist and the study authors, in a news release. “More rain overall, more rain per hour and stronger winds.”
Climate change a factor in megafloods
In fact, the study found that climate change causes catastrophic floods twice as likely to occur.
Swain said such major statewide floods have occurred every century or two in California over the past thousand years, and the current risk of such events has been greatly underestimated.
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Long before climate change, the Great California Flood of 1862 was 300 miles long and 60 miles wide. According to the study, a similar flood at this time would kill 5-10 million people, cut off the state’s highways for six weeks or months with a lot of economic impact, and threaten major cities of the Central Valley as well as parts of Los Angeles.
The research has expanded on the 2010 “ArkStorm scenario,” which is named after the rivers of air that cause the flood – one of the biblical areas.” This is the first part of a plan to re Visit that event, called ArkStorm 2.0.
Massive California flood would be a $1 trillion disaster
It is estimated that such a flood today will be $ 1 million dollars, according to UCLA.
“Stockton, Fresno and Los Angeles will be under water even today’s largest number of lakes, canals and channels.
With the drought and wildfires getting so much attention, Californians may be missing out on more flooding, Swain said in the release. “There may be bad fires every year in California, but it will be many years without major floods. People have forgotten,” he said.
The researchers used new climate models and existing climate models to compare visual effects. two bites, according to UCLA: one occurring about once per century in recent history and the other in the estimated 2081-2100 period.
All of this will involve a long series of storms driven by currents of air over the course of the month.
What are atmospheric rivers?
Atmospheric currents are ribbons of water vapor that travel thousands of miles from the tropics to the western U.S. At 250 to 375 miles in diameter, they provide fuel for heavy rains. and snow storms can cause flooding in the West.
Although useful for the water supply, such events can affect travel, bring sediment and cause damage to life and property, said the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Studies show that climate change will make air currents warmer, stronger and more frequent.
The study was published Friday in the journal Science Advances, a publication of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.