Bob Dylan once told us, “You don’t need to be a weatherman to tell which way the wind blows.” As I read The Washington Post Monday morning, I thought, “You don’t need to be a climatologist to tell that climate change is a reality.” The article I was reading was about the “Atmospheric River” that is dropping record amounts of rain on large parts of California.
I never heard the term “atmospheric river” until recently. “Bomb cyclones” were also unknown to me and, I suspect, to most of us. If recent weather patterns are any indication, we better brush up on both terms. They may become something of a new normal.
Bomb cyclones are no longer rarities. Fox News tells us: “A bomb cyclone, also known as explosive cyclogenesis or bombogenesis, is a fast-developing storm that occurs when atmospheric pressure drops at least 24 millibars over a 24-hour period. Bombogenesis refers to the quickness of how fast the low pressure develops. The intense pressure can intensify storms and cause them to spin counterclockwise, creating heavy winds, blizzard conditions and rainfall.”
Do you remember that a bomb cyclone hit the DC area six years ago? I did, but only vaguely. Clearly it could happen again. The Eastern Shore could have been hit.
Another Atmospheric River Event is wreaking havoc in California with massive flooding caused by heavy rainfall. NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, tells us: “Atmospheric rivers are relatively long, narrow regions in the atmosphere – like rivers in the sky – that transport most of the water vapor outside the tropics. While atmospheric rivers can vary greatly in size and strength, the average atmospheric river carries an amount of water vapor roughly equivalent to the average flow of water at the mouth of the Mississippi River. Exceptionally strong atmospheric rivers can transport up to 15 times that amount. When the atmospheric rivers make landfall, they often release this water vapor in the form of rain or snow.”
Both bomb cyclones and disasters caused by atmospheric rivers are evidence of climate change. Climate change skeptics may scoff and say, “Give me a break. I’ll start worrying about extreme weather when I start to see it here.” Really? Does that strike you as wise?
While bomb cyclones and atmospheric river disasters have not yet become regular occurrences on the Eastern Shore, we already are seeing evidence of climate change that threatens our way of life. The Environmental Protection Agency wrote this in 2016: “Maryland’s climate is changing. Most of the state has warmed one to two degrees (F) in the last century, heavy rainstorms are more frequent, and the sea is rising about one inch every seven to eight years. Higher water levels are eroding beaches, submerging lowlands, exacerbating coastal flooding, and increasing the salinity of estuaries and aquifers. In coming decades, changing the climate is likely to increase coastal and inland flooding; harm marine, wetland, and inland ecosystems; disrupt fishing and farming; and increase some risks to human health.”
Climate change is a global reality. Its impact is worsening as the problem remains largely unaddressed. Dramatic action is necessary. As the 2024 election approaches, the choice is clear. President Biden regularly talks about climate change. He stewarded legislation through Congress committing significant federal funding to addressing it. The other candidate, the ex-president, denied climate change in a Tweet in 2012 but has since recanted. Here is what Donald Trump said recently: “I think something’s happening. Something’s changing and it’ll change back again. I don’t think it’s a hoax. I think there’s probably a difference. But I don’t know that it’s manmade. I will say this: I don’t want to give trillions and trillions of dollars. I don’t want to lose millions and millions of jobs.”
It may take a bomb cyclone or flooding of a golf course resulting from an “atmospheric river event” to get Donald Trump to change his mind. Note that I wrote “may” rather than “will.”
J.E. Dean is a retired attorney and public affairs consultant writing on politics, government, and other subjects.
Paula Reeder says
Everyday, scientists around the world release new information about the current and projected impacts of climate change that should compell everyone to get serious about taking steps to affirmatively address the realities of climate change.
A new study published by researchers from the Chinese Academy of Science, ETH Zurich, the American National Center for Atmospheric Research, the University of St. Thomas and the Pennsylvania State University studying ocean salinity reports found strong evidence of substantial amplification in the global water cycle (defined as water and its movements within or between atmosphere, land, and ocean) as a result of Earth’s warming over the last 50 years.
Almost all weather and climate phenomena are tied to the global water cycle. As rising temperatures cause more water to evaporate from the ocean and precipitation increases “the fresh gets fresher, and the salty gets saltier” in much of the ocean. Of particular concern, the study reports that, “for the first time, the ocean salinity trend indicates freshening in almost the entire Pacific Ocean, broad salinification in the low- and middle-latitudes Atlantic, pronounced freshening in North Atlantic, and contrasts between the north and south Indian ocean”. This trend has significant and troubling implications for the future of marine ecosystems around the globe and life as we know it on Earth.
Based on research findings, this study predicts that the warmer the Earth becomes and the more ocean evaporation accelerates, drier regions will get even drier; further increasing the odds of worsening drought that affect livestock and crops and increase the risk of wildfire in many regions throughout the world and posing severe risks to food security, safety and human health. The study also projects that the risk of extreme rainfall associated with tropical cyclones and hurricanes and related risk of major damage to coastal and small island communities as well as inland communities will continue to grow.
As the saying goes, “You can run, but you can’t hide. Like it or not, it’s time we – and our elected officials – all get serious about dedicating necessary resources to mitigate the impacts of climate change before it’s too late.
John Dean says
Thank you for raising this important study. I will get a copy and read it, and I hope others will do the same. For all of us to get serious about addressing climate change, we need to accept the seriousness of the problem. The new study is a step in that direction.