Global Warming Increasing Flood Risk

Reston, VA - This summer's heavy rains in Virginia may be a harbinger of things to come, according to a new report by the National Wildlife Federation (NWF). It finds that climate change is causing a pattern of exceptionally heavy rains and flooding followed by long periods of drought in Virginia and other regions in the U.S. Recent severe weather events are likely to recur, says the report, much more-frequently than they would be expected to under normal conditions.

Amanda Staudt, a climate scientist and a report contributor, says the world's warmer temperature is responsible for causing heavier rainfall because warmer air can hold more water. For every degree of warming, she says, the amount of water vapor in the air goes up by about three percent.

"In fact, many of us may remember just over the last couple of months that it's been very rainy in much of Virginia, and this is the kind of pattern we're going to see; really heavy rainfalls then long periods of dry weather."

Staudt recommends communities plan for heavy rains by increasing the amount of wetlands and buffer zones around flood-proned rivers and streams in order to protect property.

"That might mean moving our development further back from the edges of rivers so that when there is a heavy flood, the river has room to swell and mitigate that flood risk."

NWF admits no single storm or flood can be directly attributed to climate change, but says the overall trends are clear. The report, Increased Flooding Risk: Global Warming's Wake-Up Call for Riverfront Communities, may be read at www.nwf.org/news/.