A succession of storms reaching southern England in the winter of 2013/2014 caused severe floods and £451 million insured losses. In a large ensemble of climate model simulations, we find that, as well as increasing the amount of moisture the atmosphere can hold, anthropogenic warming caused a small but significant increase in the number of January days with westerly flow, both of which increased extreme precipitation. Hydrological modelling indicates this increased extreme 30-day-average Thames river flows, and slightly increased daily peak flows, consistent with the understanding of the catchment’s sensitivity to longer-duration precipitation and changes in the role of snowmelt.
Original Source [2]
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Links:
[1] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/feature-article/human-influence-climate-2014-southern-england-winter-floods-and-their-impacts
[2] http://www.nature.com/nclimate/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nclimate2927.html
[3] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/category/author/nathalie-schaller
[4] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/category/author/alison-l-kay
[5] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/category/author/rob-lamb-et-al
[6] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/category/journal/nature-climate-change
[7] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/category/thesaurus/climate-change
[8] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/category/thesaurus/united-kingdom-uk
[9] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/category/thesaurus/floods
[10] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/category/thesaurus/climate-impacts
[11] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/category/thesaurus/storms
[12] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/category/thesaurus/hydrology
[13] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/category/thesaurus/natural-disasters
