Last week’s flooding in Mid-Michigan is just one more example of how the earth’s changing climate is having dangerous and costly consequences.
Jonathan Overpeck is dean of the School for Environment and Sustainability at the University of Michigan. He says climate change is going to lead to more flooding events.
“As the atmosphere warms up due to global warming, it can hold more moisture. So it’s a wetter atmosphere and so when there is a meteorological condition that rings that water out of the atmosphere, it can rain harder - and more rain can come down per minute, per hour.”
Overpeck says the current storm drain and dam infrastructure is not designed to handle big rain events. He suggests reducing global warming instead of trying to make changes to the drainage system.
