Studies begin linking heavy rains to humans

You know all that rain you’re always complaining about? Well, it’s totally your fault. Studies have emerged that link heavy rains to humans, or more specifically, to the greenhouse gases we create.

WHYY’s Health & Science reporter Carolyn Beeler found this New York Times article that cites research showing heavy precipitation can be accounted for by human-produced greenhouse gases, but not by natural variables in the atmosphere.

The researched spanned 1951 to 1999, so all major floods and similar natural disasters since then aren’t accounted for. The report also brings to light another problem: it takes so long to complete the research that solutions are that much further off.

Findings like this won’t just impact how scientists approach climate change; one day your local weather report will tell you not just that it’ll be cloudy, but why. Sounds like a lot of extra work for Hurricane Schwartz.