Be Careful of What You Read Regarding 'Climate' Events

Spain's recent flood, in which 27" of rain fell, has been the topic of a number of claims. I'd like to clarify:
  • This was a weather event, not a climate event. Climate is what happens over decades and centuries, not days. 
  • The fact that WWA and others say it was worsened by climate change is meaningless. They claim every unusual or extreme weather event is related to climate change.
  • The horrific death toll is not due to climate. Again, it was a weather event. There are charges that a flood forecast/warning was delayed eight hours. There are allegations that dozens of flood control dams have been removed for environmental reasons. Unfortunately, I have no way of independently verifying that claim. 
The importance of meteorological warning systems is demonstrated by this graph from 
environmentalist Bjorn Lomborg. Note that non-climate (earthquake, etc.*) deaths are relatively flat while meteorological warning systems have caused deaths to plummet. 

* After the 2004 tsunami Indian Ocean tsunami catastrophe, the worldwide tsunami warning system has been strengthened. 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The East Coast Severe Weather Threat is Over

Today's Tornado and Severe Thunderstorm Outlook - 9:30pm

Updated Freezing Rain and Heavy Rain Forecast