Hurricane Harvey and the inevitable question of climate change

Hurricane Harvey and the inevitable question of climate change

It’s been more than three days since Hurricane Harvey made landfall in Texas, but the record-shattering deluge it unleashed still isn’t over. Houston, America’s fourth-largest city, and parts of southeastern Texas are being pounded by continuing rains, and the storm has triggered a new emergency in the neighboring state of Louisiana. At least nine deaths related to the storm have been reported, tens of thousands have been driven from their homes, and federal authorities estimate that close to half a million people will seek disaster assistance.

Various U.S. government officials described the impact of Hurricane Harvey with apocalyptic superlatives. “We are seeing catastrophic flooding,” said Louis W. Uccellini, the director of the National Weather Service, who warned that the waters would be slow to recede. His agency’s models showed the Brazos River, which runs southwest of Houston, rising some 59 feet by Tuesday.

“A flood of this magnitude is an 800-year event, and it exceeds the design specification of our levees,” said Fort Bend County Judge Robert Hebert in a statement Monday.  William “Brock” Long, the administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, had similar comments: “We have not seen an event like this,” he said on Monday. “You could not draw this forecast up. You could not dream this forecast up.”

Right now, the focus is on ongoing relief and recovery efforts, boosted in part by a heartwarming mobilization of civilian volunteers. But the specter of climate change can’t be ignored. Climate change may not have “caused” Hurricane Harvey, but it seems likely that warming temperatures — the consequence of man-made greenhouse gases trapping heat in the atmosphere — exacerbated the storm conditions.

My colleague Chris Mooney outlined a number of ways in which this happens: Warmer temperatures in the ocean created an increase in atmospheric moisture, leading to the massive rainfall currently hitting southeastern Texas; rising sea levels contributed to a stronger storm surge that flooded Houston; a warmer climate makes storms more intense before they make landfall…

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Car hits pram in Sydney, toddler critical

A two-year-old boy is fighting for life after a car smashed into a pram being pushed by his horrified grandmother in Sydney’s south.

Emergency services were called to an intersection in Narwee at 4.20pm on Friday following reports of a crash.

A 18-year-old local man, driving a metallic blue Nissan Pulsar, struck the child’s pram on Hannans Road.

The unconscious toddler was treated by paramedics at the scene before being rushed to Randwick Children’s Hospital in a critical condition.

The child’s grandmother was not injured, however she has been treated for shock.

The car driver was taken to hospital for mandatory blood and urine samples.

Police have urged anyone who might have witnessed the crash to come forward.

Source: Car hits pram in Sydney, toddler critical | Perth Now

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Steve Scalise: Shot US congressman’s condition worsens

Congressman Steve Scalise is moved back in to intensive care, three weeks after being shot.

Steve Scalise was one of four people wounded on 14 June by a gunman who targeted Republicans.

Doctors said they were concerned about infection, and he is now listed as being in a serious condition.

Mr Scalise, a 51-year-old who represents Louisiana, has been in hospital since the attack.

Prior to being shot he was the majority whip in the House of Representatives.

He arrived at hospital facing “an imminent risk of death”, doctors say, but was moved out of the intensive care unit in late June after repeated rounds of surgery.

The gunman, 66-year-old James T Hodgkinson, was shot by police at the scene and later died.

Source: Steve Scalise: Shot US congressman’s condition worsens – BBC News

BREAKING: Russian MP who fled Moscow is shot dead in Kiev

A Russian MP who fled Moscow fearing for his life at the hands of President Putin’s secret service has been shot dead in the Ukrainian capital Kiev.

Denis Voronenkov, who had recently criticised the Ukrainian government, was gunned down in broad daylight.

The 45-year-old fled Moscow in October with his wife Maria Maksakova, an opera singer, saying they were fed up of the ‘schizophrenic’ Russian government.

Source: Russian MP who fled Moscow is shot dead in Kiev | Daily Mail Online