Do you think that the floods in Australia are due to Global Warming?
http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/8195495/debris-boats-rage-down-brisbane-river
http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/8195495/debris-boats-rage-down-brisbane-river
Dana1981
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No. They may be worse than they would have otherwise been, because global warming results in more moisture in the atmosphere. But we certainly can't say that the floods wouldn't have happened without global warming.
However, there have been several studies on the increase in heavy precipitation events as a result of global warming.
http://www.knmi.nl/publications/fulltexts/global_extremes_for_jgr.pdf
http://www.drinetwork.ca/extremes/documents/Groisman_et_al_2005_Global_Intense_precip.pdf
And it only makes sense that the Queensland and northern Australia monsoon would be generally made stronger by warmer water and more moisture in the air.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE70B1XF20110112
In short, global warming didn't cause the floods, but it may very well have made them more intense.
Anonymous
Firstly Eric C, climate scientists have not mentioned anything about the reduced severity of floods (in fact in Australia the opposite has been warned by scientists, as the predicted sea level rises are expected to increase the flooding of the coast line and rivers linked to oceans). Rainfall is expected to decrease in many areas of Australia, however northern Australia's rainfall is not expected to alter that much. Also the government in Australia has only started taking climate change as serious within the last 5 years or so, and most of that has involved talk and very little action.
The climate change science does predict greater unpredictability with the climate (that is, the Earth is entering a climate phase that human civilisation has never been around for or not in modern history anyway). One potential risk of climate change is an increased intensity in tropical cyclones (not necessary more, but a greater occurrence of bigger cyclones).
So potentially climate change could be an influencing factor on the floods, however I would say poor planning, land clearing, poor flood mitigation strategies (very little seems to have changed since the 1974 floods) and the heavy rains caused by seasonal tropical cyclones (nothing out of the ordinary with SE Queensland having rain during this time of the year) were the major factors.
Anonymous
You do realize Australia is an identical length with the aid of fact the contiguous states of the U. S., good? the common varieties we've had in maximum areas are long classes of decreased rainfall accompanied by making use of flooding over 7-10 3 hundred and sixty 5 days classes. Our climate cycles are so diverse to the northern hemisphere varieties some have pronounced we dismiss the assumption of four seasons in one 3 hundred and sixty 5 days and concentration extra on the 7 3 hundred and sixty 5 days ENSO version and is the reason extra of the version. The climate predictions are for extra extreme droughts interior the southeast (the place i grew to become into residing until final week) and extra rain interior the northwest. The drought broke interior the southeast approximately 2 years in the past, and we've had periodic floods when you consider that then. A trend opposing the predictions for the southeast would be if the droughts do no longer grow to be extra extreme over the arriving an prolonged time and the floods worsen or extra time-honored. the reason we've floods after drought is by technique of the impacts on soils long classes without water has. familiar rainfall seeps into bedrock and strikes slowly with the aid of aquifers yet while soils are dry they grow to be compacted and this reduces the quantity of water they'd take in. it incredibly is worsened by making use of issues like deforestation and grazing. once you ultimately get substantial rain, it runs around the precise of the soil rather than being soaked into it like it does while rain is familiar. for this reason you get floods after drought. If the drought is worse, then right here floods additionally are in all likelihood to be worse. So confident, we are waiting for to have droughts and floods as huge-unfold. We additionally anticipate the severity of those to alter. come decrease back to us in 30 years time as quickly as we would have had some cycles which will point out what the craze is. until then, are not getting excited.
?
They are probably more intense than they would have been otherwise. Climate change (a better name for Global Warming) is occurring all over the world. Areas of the world are having record heat repeatedly summer after summer. In my area of the US spring flowers are blooming an average of 2 weeks earlier now than they did just 20 years ago (the average blooming date had stayed steady for over 200 years prior to that.)
bruce
Yes most definitely
Global warming induces these catastrophic natural disasters
GW doesn't cause anything directly but it is the conditions of GW that induces these calamitous effects.
It is scientifically proven that indeed global warming induces natural disasters and it will get worse every year from now on
http://www.circleforhumanity.net