A few years ago, it was Sandy. Now Harvey. According to Climate Central and the National Climate Assessment, Extreme Precipitation Events are up in all areas of the US. They are up over 70% in the Northeast. http://www.climatecentral.org/gallery/maps/extreme-precipitation-events-are-on-the-rise http://nca2014.globalchange.gov/highlights
How I long for the pre industrial age when there was no extreme weather. When was that again? Was it the thousand year drought era that wiped out the Anasazi culture or maybe the "summer that never was" or was it when the dinosaur population went extinct?
You're missing the point. Extreme precipitation events don't mean that there is more annual precipitation. As a matter of fact, if the annual precipitation is close to the same, it follows that there would be droughts.
Rain replenishes water tables. Are you saying that the fact that Heavy Downpours are increasing, is not a concern?
Whether it is a concern depends on who you are. Even left wing Mother Jones says hurricanes are good: http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2011/08/five-good-things-about-hurricane/
Mother Jones makes some good points. From a "replenishing of natural forces" standpoint, a hurricane can be looked on favorably. And if they don't hit land, assuming your not stuck in a boat in the middle of one, they are probably even beneficial. I posted this ealier. Maybe you missed it. Notice the high dollar hurricanes of the 21st century. Billions and billions. We'll see where Harvey comes in - I've heard it will surpass all. The financial numbers probably don't bother you, because you're undoubtedly one of those deficit-increasing Republicans. But here they are. Guess this is cool too? Numbers adjusted for inflation 2010 1. Katrina (LA/MS/AL/SE FL) 2005 3 $105,840,000,000 2. Sandy (CT/DE/MA/MD/ME/NC/NH/NJ/NY/PA/RI) 2012 2 $60,000,000,000 3. Andrew (SE FL/SE LA) 1992 5 $45,561,000,000 4. Ike (TX/LA/MS) 2008 2 $27,790,000,000 5. Wilma (FL) 2005 3 $20,587,000,000 6. Ivan (FL/AL) 2004 3 $19,832,000,000 7. Charley (FL) 2004 4 $15,820,000,000 8. Irene (NC/VA/MD/DE/NJ/NY/CT/VT/NH/ME) 2011 1 $15,800,000,000
I replied when you posted it another thread. Specifically I replied that property damage is a questionable metric of "worst" seeing as how the Galveston 1900 hurricane killed better than six times as many people as Katrina and it isn't on your list. The financial number don't bother me because your list merely reflects that property values are increasing faster than inflation. Death tolls matter and so far it is looking like Harvey won't make the top 20.
What does it mean? It rains more because the atmosphere has more fluorocarbons, which theoretically means greater evaporation. It is something that should be recognized, along with massive soil degradation, water eutrophication and loss of biodiversity resulting from industrial agriculture. I don't know that the effects can be reversed. We can change current practices. Conservation Agriculture LINK
Yes, but your logic is jumping all over the map. You were talking about the beneficial properties of hurricanes. I posted the financial costs of recent hurricanes to show that it's not all beneficial. Enough said. It's somewhat of a ridiculous argument anyway.
My argument isn't jumping all over the place. Hurricanes are naturally beneficial. Death tolls are mitigated by engineering. Houston is an engineering failure. Katrina was an engineering failure. Very little other than megadams in the US are designed for probable maximum flooding. We can't stop hurricanes but we can better engineer for flooding which is what claims the most lives.
