Piecemeal approach to attacking climate change infrastructure challenges is wrongheaded
Photo: A small tractor clears water from a business as flood waters block a street on July 12 in Barre, Vt. Following a storm that dumped nearly two months of rain in two days, Vermonters are cleaning up from the deluge of water. Charles Krupa/Associated Press
Imagine trying to build a boat while it’s already at sea and taking on water. You rush from springing leak to springing leak, haunted by a vague sense that a storm is coming but with no idea how big it will be or how long it will last.
This more or less describes how the United States is approaching the growing flood threat posed by a warmer atmosphere that holds more water, subjecting the country to bouts of torrential, catastrophic rainfall. Lives are being lost and property destroyed partly because we’re moving too slowly to embrace proven solutions to bolster our infrastructure against disasters that are becoming increasingly routine.
…we keep learning the hard way that there are no climate refuges.
MARK GONGLOFF
Last week in Vermont and New York’s Hudson Valley, months’ worth of rain fell in hours, overwhelming antiquated water-management infrastructure, resulting in widespread flooding that took at least one life and wiped out roads, bridges, houses and more. Both places had experienced severe flooding before and had taken modest steps to avoid it. Those efforts proved woefully inadequate.
Usually when most of us think of the flood risk posed by climate change, we picture hurricanes and rising oceans. But a warmer planet also means more moisture in the air far from coasts.
This extra moisture often gets dumped out of the atmosphere in torrential downpours. Climate change was directly responsible for $75 billion in flood damages in the United States between 1988 and 2017, according to a 2021 study. That number is certainly higher now and could well rise exponentially in the near future.
It’s notable that Vermont was unlucky enough to bear the brunt of this effect last week. The state is often mentioned as a potential haven from climate change, author Jonathan Mingle wrote in the New York Times. As I have written, we keep learning the hard way that there are no climate refuges. […]
Full article: www.mercurynews.com