Climate change this year has brought marked changes to the weather patterns in the northern hemisphere. While Europe is sweltering under heatwaves with drought-like conditions emerging in several countries, the US, on the other hand, is about to experience quite the opposite.
A new study by Science Advances has predicted that exceedingly rare megafloods will become more common and more catastrophic in California, with the chances of the disaster developing in the next 40 years.
A megaflood is “a very severe flood event across a broad region that has the potential to bring catastrophic impacts to society in the areas affected”, Daniel Swain, a climate scientist with the University of California, Los Angeles, and a researcher involved in the study, told CNN.
Experts say that these rare superfloods could turn California’s lowlands into a “vast inland sea”.
These massive floods previously happened once in a lifetime in the state. Over 150 years ago, a strong series of atmospheric rivers swarmed the entire state of California, causing one of the most exceptional floods in history following a dry spell that had left the West parched for decades.
However, researchers say that climate change is increasing the chances of these catastrophic disasters, causing them to occur every 25 to 50 years.
Though major floods have struck California, which is prone to these floods from atmospheric rivers, climate change is increasing the chances, and millions of people could be impacted.
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The researchers based their findings from a 2010 analysis called “ARkStorm,” which is developed by the US Geological Survey with an interdisciplinary team.
After analysing the data, they concluded that a series of severe storms had the potential to pelt the state with enough rainfall to displace millions, impair critical infrastructure and transportation corridors, and cause close to $1tn in economic losses.
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“Ultimately, one of our goals is not just to understand these events scientifically, but it’s also to help California prepare for them,” Swain was quoted as saying.
“It’s a question of when rather than if (the megaflood) occurs,” he added.
(With inputs from agencies)
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