Various parts of the world are going through water related disasters; some argued that the recent Lekki flooding was due poor structure and poor drainage systems. This is true, but like everywhere else in the world, climate change plays a significant role in this
This article about the effects of climate change on Hurricane Harvey by Michael E Mann explains how the rise in sea levels due to human activities made the Hurricane worse than it would have been 10 years ago
“Sea level rise attributable to climate change – some of which is due to coastal subsidence caused by human disturbance such as oil drilling – is more than half a foot (15cm) over the past few decades. That means the storm surge was half a foot higher than it would have been just decades ago, meaning far more flooding and destruction.”
The article also discusses how sea temperature results in stronger winds, more wind damage and a larger storm surge, which exacerbated the hurricane. It explains the relationship between heat, atmospheric moisture, rainfall and how they all add up
The strong winds and heavy rainfalls, which aggravated the effects of the flooding in Huston, are partly due to global warming. Perhaps climate change has a direct impact on the heavy rains and flooding in other parts of the world too
Read The Guardian article here
More on global warming here
Stay safe!