Current:Home > NewsClimate change likely helped cause deadly Pakistan floods, scientists find-LoTradeCoin
Climate change likely helped cause deadly Pakistan floods, scientists find
View Date:2024-12-23 15:31:41
It is likely that climate change helped drive deadly floods in Pakistan, according to a new scientific analysis. The floods killed nearly 1500 people and displaced more than 30 million, after record-breaking rain in August.
The analysis confirms what Pakistan's government has been saying for weeks: that the disaster was clearly driven by global warming. Pakistan experienced its wettest August since the country began keeping detailed national weather records in 1961. The provinces that were hardest hit by floods received up to eight times more rain than usual, according to the Pakistan Meteorological Department.
Climate change made such heavy rainfall more likely, according to the analysis by a group of international climate scientists in Pakistan, Europe and the United States. While Pakistan has sometimes experienced heavy monsoon rains, about 75 percent more water is now falling during weeks when monsoon rains are heaviest, the scientists estimate.
The analysis is a so-called attribution study, a type of research that is conducted very quickly compared to other climate studies, and is meant to offer policymakers and disaster survivors a rough estimate of how global warming affected a specific weather event. More in-depth research is underway to understand the many ways that climate change affects monsoon rainfall.
For example, while it's clear that intense rain will keep increasing as the Earth heats up, climate models also suggest that overall monsoon rains will be less reliable. That would cause cycles of both drought and flooding in Pakistan and neighboring countries in the future.
Such climate whiplash has already damaged crops and killed people across southeast Asia in recent years, and led to a water crisis in Chennai, India in 2019.
The new analysis also makes clear that human caused climate change was not the only driver of Pakistan's deadly floods. Scientists point out that millions of people live in flood-prone areas with outdated drainage in provinces where the flooding was most severe. Upgrading drainage, moving homes and reinforcing bridges and roads would all help prevent such catastrophic damage in the future.
veryGood! (3574)
Related
- Satire publication The Onion buys Alex Jones’ Infowars at auction with help from Sandy Hook families
- Fantasy football Week 11: Trade value chart and rest of season rankings
- Jason Kelce collaborates with Stevie Nicks for Christmas duet: Hear the song
- Taylor Swift Becomes Auntie Tay In Sweet Photo With Fellow Chiefs WAG Chariah Gordon's Daughter
- These Michael Kors’ Designer Handbags Are All Under $150 With an Extra 22% off for Singles’ Day
- Apologetic rapper Tekashi 6ix9ine gets 45 days in prison for probation violations
- Harriet Tubman posthumously honored as general in Veterans Day ceremony: 'Long overdue'
- Man waives jury trial in killing of Georgia nursing student
- NYC bans unusual practice of forcing tenants to pay real estate brokers hired by landlords
- New wildfires burn in US Northeast while bigger blazes rage out West
Ranking
- 'We suffered great damage': Fierce California wildfire burns homes, businesses
- Celtics' Jaylen Brown calls Bucks' Giannis Antetokounmpo a 'child' over fake handshake
- Kevin Costner says he hasn't watched John Dutton's fate on 'Yellowstone': 'Swear to God'
- The 10 Best Cashmere Sweaters and Tops That Feel Luxuriously Soft and Are *Most Importantly* Affordable
- Vermont man is fit to stand trial over shooting of 3 Palestinian college students
- Teachers in 3 Massachusetts communities continue strike over pay, paid parental leave
- Jessica Simpson’s Sister Ashlee Simpson Addresses Eric Johnson Breakup Speculation
- Powerball winning numbers for Nov. 9 drawing: Jackpot rises to $92 million
Recommendation
-
Is Kyle Richards Finally Ready to File for Divorce From Mauricio Umansky? She Says...
-
Steelers' Mike Tomlin shuts down Jayden Daniels Lamar comparison: 'That's Mr. Jackson'
-
Megan Fox and Machine Gun Kelly are expecting their first child together
-
The Daily Money: Markets react to Election 2024
-
Guns smuggled from the US are blamed for a surge in killings on more Caribbean islands
-
Real Housewives of New York City Star’s Pregnancy Reveal Is Not Who We Expected
-
What’s the secret to growing strong, healthy nails?
-
Rōki Sasaki is coming to MLB: Dodgers the favorite to sign Japanese ace for cheap?