The News
A new study is drawing the connection between Imelda, the devastating flood in southeast Texas in September, and climate change. The surprise storm is now the sixth wettest tropical storm in U.S. history and the region’s second 1,000-year flood since Harvey.
Using climate models and statistical analyses, researchers discovered climate change made extreme rainfall in Imelda 1.6 to 2.6 times more likely to occur and 9 to 17 percent more intense, according to World Weather Attribution, an international project that provides rapid analysis of extreme weather events by researchers from universities like Oxford and Princeton.
What It Means
With scientists sounding the alarm on Imelda as the second extreme flooding event in Texas supercharged by climate change, it’s another sign that the existential crisis is already hitting home in Texas. As climate change continues to creep into the everyday lives of Texans, it’s more important than ever for the state’s GOP leaders to start taking the threat seriously. But that’s not the case.
Last year, the Republican-led Texas Legislature squashed several bills that would have allowed Texas to study and plan for climate change. Even worse, the state’s Republican leadership doesn’t believe that the climate is changing, or that this change caused by humans.
Photo: Thomas B. Shea/Getty Images
Fernando covers Texas politics and government at the Texas Signal. Before joining the Signal, Fernando spent two years at the Houston Chronicle and previously interned at Houston’s NPR station News 88.7. He is a graduate of the University of Houston, Jack J. Valenti School of Communication, and enjoys reading, highlighting things, and arguing on social media. You can follow him on Twitter at @fernramirez93 or email at fernando@texassignalarchive.com
