Scientists have determined whether global warming is the cause of catastrophic rains in Europe

Massive rainfall caused by Storm Boris has caused chaos and flooding in Central and Eastern Europe.

Scientists from Germany’s Alfred Wegener Institute and the Helmholtz Center for Polar and Marine Research analyzed whether global warming was responsible for weather conditions reaching such extreme levels. This was reported by the press service of the Helmholtz Center.

In mid-September, Storm Boris caused heavy rain and severe flooding in Poland, the Czech Republic, Austria and Romania. Many affected regions experienced some of the highest amounts of rainfall ever recorded over a five-day period. At least 27 people were killed and a huge number of families were forced to flee their homes.

As early as one to two weeks after a given event, so-called probabilistic attribution studies can be used to draw early conclusions about how likely the event was due to climate change, the article notes.

As a result, the analysis carried out by scientists showed:

• in a world without current levels of global warming, Storm Boris would result in approximately 9% less rainfall;
• in our reality, on its way from the eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea to central Europe, the storm was able to gain greater strength because the water was about two degrees warmer than in pre-industrial times, which meant a correspondingly higher percentage of water vapor in the air over the region.

Nine percent may not seem like much, but when it comes to the effects of heavy rainfall, it always comes down to how much water collects on the surface and where it ends up – whether a river, dam or sewer system can hold it in, or whether it overflows and causes enormous damage – noted in the article.

Source: Racurs

David

I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.