Climate change made April flooding worse, study says

The historic rain and flooding in parts of Arkansas, Kentucky and other states caused by intense April thunderstorms was likelier and also more intense because of climate change.

The historic rain and flooding in parts of Arkansas, Kentucky and other states caused by intense April thunderstorms was likelier and also more intense because of climate change. 

That’s according to the World Weather Attribution project, a group of scientists who analyze major weather events for the effects of climate change. 

From April 3 to April 6, torrential rain pounded the Southeast, causing flooding that put more than 70 million people under flood alerts, killed at least 15, swept away cars and derailed a train. 

Researchers used climate models and historical data to analyze the storm system in eight states it tracked and found that it was about 9% more intense because of global warming and 40% likelier today than in a climate without global warming. 

“We conclude that present warming of 1.3 degrees did amplify the extreme rainfall leading to flooding in this region,” said Ben Clarke, a researcher at Imperial College London, who helped author the report. “We know that a warmer atmosphere holds more moisture.”