“The jet stream basically stalls and those weather patterns remain in place - those high and low pressure centers remain in place,” Mann said. Scientists suspect that this decrease in temperature difference is changing how the jet stream behaves. The Arctic is warming much faster than the Lower 48, for example, which “reduces the temperature difference from the equator to the pole.” Importantly, it’s fueled by the extreme difference in temperature between the equator and the poles.īut the planet is not warming equally in all locations, Mann explained. The jet stream is the fast-moving river of air high in the atmosphere that ushers weather systems across the globe. There’s another, more surprising way that the climate crisis could be driving these extreme rainfall events, Mann said, and it’s something on the forefront of climate research: The jet stream could be getting “stuck” in positions that prolong these kinds of extreme events. “What climate change is doing is it’s supercharging them, so when you get one of those weather systems that’s producing large amounts of rainfall, you get more rainfall.” It’s going to happen - rainfall, flooding events are going to happen,” Mann told CNN. What to know about the heavy rainfall hitting the Northeast A woman died after being swept away by floodwaters. Mann, a climate scientist and distinguished professor at the University of Pennsylvania. The climate crisis is stacking the deck in favor of more intense weather events like the heavy rain and flooding in the Northeast, said Michael E. A 1,000-year rainfall event is one that is so intense, it only happens on average once every 1,000 years. On Sunday, more than 7.5 inches of rain fell at West Point, New York, in just six hours - a 1,000-year rainfall event for the area, according to a CNN analysis of data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Rivers in Vermont rose quickly in the torrential rain on Monday to levels not seen since Hurricane Irene in 2011. A “perfect storm” is unfolding this summer, one climate scientist told CNN, as atmospheric ingredients combine to create deadly flooding in the Northeast US and record-breaking heat in the Southwest US and around the world.ĭeadly flooding inundated parts of the Northeast, trapping people in their homes and killing at least one woman who was swept away by the fast-moving water.
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