Flooding Events, Fires & Extreme Droughts will Increase with Warming Climate

The United States had a dozen
weather disasters that each caused at least US$1 billion in damages in 2011,
the greatest frequency of severe weather that caused costly losses in more than
30 years of federal government tracking. The disasters in 2011 caused more than
600 deaths. The Groundhog Day blizzard, Hurricane Irene, many tornadoes and
drought-fueled wildfires in Texas, New Mexico and Arizona crossed the
$1-billion threshold.

By Mara Lee in Los Angeles Times
(8 December 2011):

The United States had a dozen weather
disasters that each caused at least $1 billion in damages in 2011, the greatest
frequency of severe weather that caused costly losses in more than 30 years of
federal government tracking.

However, even with the number of
events, the total losses this year from the storms, flooding and droughts is
$52 billion, not even close to the most expensive year on record, according to
the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

In 2005, Hurricane Katrina alone
cost $145 billion in today’s dollars. It was the most expensive natural
disaster in U.S. history and, with more than 1,800 deaths, the highest fatality
toll since a 1928 hurricane in south Florida.

The disasters in 2011 caused more
than 600 deaths, the agency said. The Groundhog Day blizzard, Hurricane Irene,
many tornadoes and drought-fueled wildfires in Texas, New Mexico and Arizona crossed
the $1-billion threshold.

The increase in losses from
hurricanes has more to do with population growth and increased home building
near beaches than it does with climate change, scientists from NOAA say.

But, they added, “there is
evidence that climate change may affect the frequency of certain extreme
weather events. An increase in population and development in flood plains,
along with an increase in heavy rain events in the U.S. during the past 50
years, have gradually increased the economic losses due to flooding. If the
climate continues to warm, the increase in heavy rain events is likely to
continue. There are projections that the incidence of extreme droughts will
increase if the climate warms throughout the 21st century.”

About 343 tornadoes in 13 states
in late April was the most costly disaster, with total losses greater than
$10.2 billion and insured losses of $7.3 billion. Tuscaloosa, Ala., was badly
hit, and 240 of the 321 deaths were in Alabama.

Close behind was a drought and
heat wave across Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arizona, southern Kansas and
western Louisiana. The total direct losses to crops, livestock and timber have
approached $10 billion; both direct and total economic losses will rise as the
drought continues.

The weather fueled wildfires
across Texas, New Mexico and Arizona, with losses over $1 billion from just the
fires.

Hurricane Irene cost more than
$7.3 billion in damages and resulted in 45 deaths.

The Joplin tornado in Missouri
was the deadliest single tornado in 61 years, with 160 deaths. That tornado,
along with 179 others across 15 states in late May, cost $9.1 billion, with
$6.5 billion in insured losses.

Source: www.latimes.com