Washington, DC— Storms with heavy rainfall are now 24 percent more
frequent in the U.S. than they were 60 years ago, according to a new Environment America report
released today. The report makes it clear that the United States is
already experiencing extreme downpours much more frequently, consistent
with scientists’ predictions about global warming.
“At the rate
we’re going, what was once the “storm of the decade” will soon seem
like just another downpour,” said Environment America’s Washington,
D.C. Director Anna Aurilio.
Aurilio pointed to the rainstorm
that hit Washington, D.C., and much of the east coast in late June,
2006, as an illustration of what more extreme rainstorms could mean for
the region. That rainstorm, which broke the one-day, two-day and
one-week records for rainfall at Reagan National Airport outside
Washington, flooded buildings like IRS, caused mudslides that closed
the Capital Beltway, left tens of thousands of homes without power, and
even felled a 100-year-old tree on the White House grounds.
“This
report demonstrates that we are already seeing the effects of global
warming even with a relatively small increase in temperatures. The
projected increases are much greater, and the impacts are already much
more than was predicted. It is imperative that we begin now to reduce
the emissions of heat trapping gases to avoid serious and
uncontrollable damage,” said Dr. William Moomaw, Professor of
International Environmental Policy; Director of the Center for
International Environment and Resource Policy at The Tufts University
Fletcher School.
The new Environment America report, "When it Rains, It Pours: Global
Warming and the Rising Frequency of Extreme Precipitation in the United
States,"
examines trends in the frequency of large rain and snow events across
the continental United States from 1948 to 2006. Using data from 3,000
weather stations and a methodology originally developed by scientists
at the National Climatic Data Center and the Illinois State Water
Survey, the report identifies storms with the greatest 24-hour
precipitation totals at each weather station, and analyzes when those
storms occurred.
Nationally, the report shows that storms with
extreme precipitation have increased in frequency by 24 percent across
the continental United States since 1948. At the state level, 40 states
show a significant trend toward more frequent storms with extreme
precipitation, while only one state (Oregon) shows a significant
decline.
Key findings in the report include:
• Storms
with extreme precipitation increased in frequency by 24 percent
nationally from 1948 to 2006. The New England and Mid-Atlantic regions
ranked 1st and 2nd respectively among regions nationwide for the
largest increase in the frequency of storms with heavy precipitation.
•
States experiencing an especially high increase in extreme
precipitation events during the period studied included Louisiana (52%
increase), Massachusetts (67% increase), New Hampshire (83% increase),
New York (56% increase), Rhode Island (88% increase) and Vermont (57%
increase).
• Metropolitan areas showing an especially large
increase in the frequency of large storms included Bloomington, IN;
Elkhart-Goshen, IN; Baton Rouge, LA; Portland, ME; Jackson, MS;
Binghamton, NY; Reading, PA and Williamsport, PA.
These
findings are consistent with the predicted impacts of global warming.
Scientists expect some parts of the United States to receive more
precipitation as a result of global warming, while other parts receive
less. But regardless of the trend in total precipitation, scientists
predict that the rain and snow that does fall will be more likely to
come in big downpours and heavy snowstorms.
Environment
America was joined by Dr. William Moomaw, Professor of International
Environmental Policy and Director of the Center for International
Environment and Resources Policy at the Fletcher School at Tufts
University, on a teleconference held to release today’s report.
Environment
America’s Aurilio was careful to note that an increase in the frequency
of extreme rainstorms does not mean more water will be available.
Scientists expect that, as global warming intensifies, longer periods
of relative dryness will mark the periods between extreme rainstorms,
increasing the risk of drought. For example, the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) predicts that, under a scenario of
intense warming, the percent of land enduring severe drought globally
could be 30 times greater by the end of the century than it is today.
“We
can curb the severity of this problem only if our country acts boldly
to reduce the pollution that fuels global warming,” said Aurilio.
According
to the most recent science, the United States must reduce its total
global warming emissions by at least 15 percent by 2020 and by at least
80 percent by 2050 in order to prevent the worst effects of global
warming.
“Steep reductions in global warming pollution are
challenging but achievable,” noted Aurilio, “and we already have the
energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies we need to get
started.”
Tomorrow, the U.S. Senate Environment & Public
Works (EPW) Committee is expected to vote on amendments to the
“Lieberman-Warner Security Act of 2007” (S. 2191), a global warming
bill introduced by Senators Lieberman (Conn.) and Warner (Va.). While
recognizing the important efforts of the bill’s supporters on this
critical issue, Environment America’s Aurilio said that the legislation
must be significantly strengthened to address the challenge of global
warming. Specifically, the bill’s current pollution reduction targets
fall short of what the science says is necessary to avoid the worst
effects of global warming, and the bill gives away far too many
subsidies to dirty and dangerous energy sources.
“If we are
going to solve the problem of global warming, this bill must be
substantially strengthened,” said Aurilio. “Environment America urges
the Environment & Public Works Committee to strengthen the bill to
require science-based pollution reduction targets, and to limit
giveaways to dirty and dangerous energy sources,” concluded Aurilio.
Aurilio
also urged members of Congress to support the Safe Climate Act and
Global Warming Pollution Reduction Act—the only legislation in Congress
that includes the science-based targets necessary to help protect
future generations from the worst effects of global warming.
