This week’s catastrophic weather is bringing the climate change debate back into the spotlight.
The combination of flash floods, wildfires, and hurricanes are being used as evidence that the earth’s climate is getting more volatile. But are humans responsible? Some people say yes, but not everyone agrees.
Twenty-two people are dead and several are still missing after Saturday’s flash floods washed through several mid-Tennessee counties.
A weather event called a “training thunderstorm” dumped 17 inches of rain in just 24 hours. The deluge shattered the state’s record for single-day rainfall.
“A training thunderstorm is when thunderstorms keep generating in on area over and over again,” explains Joe Bastardi at Weatherbell.com
In North Carolina, floods also led to five fatalities in the Western part of the state last week due to the aftermath of Tropical Storm Fred.
Mike Dutter, a scientist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) says worldwide weather events may have climate change to blame.
“The precipitation data around the world indicate heavy extreme rainfall events are increasing over the past year or more,” Dutter said.
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International headlines point to humans as the force behind climate change leading to disasters, from major flooding in Europe, to wildfires and droughts in the Western states, along with stronger storms raising water both inland and along coastal areas.
“With global climate change, those extremes are expected to continue and perhaps become more frequent,” Dutter added.
But Bastardi refutes the human element when it comes to climate change.
“What happened in Tennessee is not climate change,” said Bastardi. “In 1977, there were 77 people killed in Johnstown in a similar situation. In 1969, over 40 people were killed in Northeastern Ohio. It’s absurd and deceptive not to bring in such examples and so quickly blame climate change.”
No matter your personal stance on climate change, the world keeps turning. Three more storms are forming off the coast. One carries a 60 percent chance of strengthening in the Caribbean before hitting Texas.
“The tropical activity is certainly above normal, it’s not unheard of, but definitely above normal and will continue to be through the rest of the year,” Dutter points out.
As the nation braces for more bad weather, the debate over climate change continues.
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