[Vision2020] Australia Floods: Premier Anna Bligh: "the worst natural disaster in its history." Accelerating Hydrological Cycle From Anthropogenic Climate Warming

[Paul Rumelhart]

Nasa has put the blame on La Nina 
(http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110113/sc_afp/australiaweatherfloodsus):


  NASA says La Nina fueling Australia floods

WASHINGTON (AFP) – The US space agency said Thursday that a particularly 
strong La Nina weather pattern of cooler water temperatures is fueling 
heavy rains and floods in Australia.

"Although exacerbated by precipitation from a tropical cyclone, 
rainfalls of historic proportion in eastern Queensland, Australia have 
led to levels of flooding usually only seen once in a century," said 
David Adamec, oceanographer at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.

"The copious rainfall is a direct result of La Nina's effect on the 
Pacific trade winds and has made tropical Australia particularly rainy 
this year."

NASA is monitoring weather patterns via satellite images which show a 
strong La Nina pattern in November and December 2010.

"The solid record of La Nina strength only goes back about 50 years and 
this latest event appears to be one of the strongest ones over this time 
period," said climatologist Bill Patzert of NASA's Jet Propulsion 
Laboratory in California.

"It is already impacting weather and climate all around the planet."

Australia's third-largest city Brisbane was reeling Thursday with whole 
suburbs under water and infrastructure smashed as the worst flood in 
decades hit 30,000 properties.



I feel confident that if they could have blamed it on anthropogenic 
climate change, they would have done so.

Paul


Ted Moffett wrote:
> *While linking directly any one short term local weather event to 
> anthropogenic climate warming is questionable, an increase in the 
> global frequency of such events can be linked to global warming.  That 
> the Earth's hydrological cycle is accelerating due to anthropogenic 
> climate warming (read about massive ongoing Australia floods lower 
> down) is supported by scientific research, as indicated from the NASA 
> source below:*
> ** 
> http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/water20101004.html
> ** 
> NASA Study Sees Earth's Water Cycle Pulse Quickening
> ** 
> Famiglietti said the evaporation and precipitation cycle taught in 
> grade school is accelerating dangerously because of higher 
> temperatures fueled by greenhouse gases. Hotter weather above the 
> ocean causes freshwater to evaporate faster, which leads to thicker 
> clouds unleashing more powerful storms over land. The resulting 
> rainfall then travels via rivers to the sea in ever-larger amounts, 
> and the cycle begins again.
> *----------------------*
> *More on the peer reviewed published study from the Proceedings of the 
> National Academy of Sciences, mentioned above:*
> ** 
> http://today.uci.edu/news/2010/10/nr_oceans_101004.php
>
>
>     First-of-its-kind study finds alarming increase in flow of water
>     into oceans
>
>
>       UCI-led team cites global warming, accelerated cycle of
>       evaporation, precipitation as factors
>
> — Irvine, Calif., October 04, 2010 —
>
> ---------------------
>
> *http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12179213*
> ** 
> *13 January 2011* Last updated at 05:26 ET  
>
>
>   Queensland rebuilding 'huge task'
>
> The Australian state of Queensland is facing a reconstruction task of 
> "post-war proportions", as floods left swathes of it under water.
>
> State Premier Anna Bligh said the state was reeling from the worst 
> natural disaster in its history.
>
> Powerful flood waters have surged through the state capital, Brisbane, 
> leaving thousands of homes submerged.
>
> The floods peaked at a lower level than expected but more than 30 
> suburbs are under water.
>
> Huge amounts of debris - cars, boats and jetties - have been floating 
> downstream, some smashing into bridges.
>
> One man died when he was sucked into a storm drain and two more deaths 
> elsewhere were reported by Australian broadcaster ABC, bringing the 
> toll from this week's flooding to 15, with dozens more missing.
>
> The Brisbane River is now receding and was expected to fall to around 
> 3.2m by early on Friday.
>
> It peaked at 4.46m (14.6ft) just before 0530 (1930 GMT Wednesday), 
> short of the 5.4m (17.7ft) in the 1974 floods.
>
> West of Brisbane, the small town of Goondiwindi is on high alert, with 
> fears the flooding Macintyre River could swamp the town.
>
> Police are continuing to search areas of the Lockyer Valley for those 
> missing after a torrent of water swept through the area on Monday.
>
> "Queensland is reeling this morning from the worst natural disaster in 
> our history and possibly in the history of our nation," Ms Bligh told 
> reporters.
>
> "We've seen three-quarters of our state having experienced the 
> devastation of raging flood waters and we now face a reconstruction 
> task of post-war proportions."
>
> In Brisbane, the worst-hit suburbs included Brisbane City, St Lucia, 
> West End, Rocklea and Graceville.
>
> "There will be some people that will go into their homes that will 
> find them to be never habitable again," Ms Bligh said.
>
> Brisbane Mayor Campbell Newman said 11,900 homes and 2,500 businesses 
> had been completely flooded, with 14,700 houses and 2,500 businesses 
> partially submerged.
>
> Milton resident Brenton Ward reached his home in the suburbs by rowing 
> boat.
>
> "We have water to the waist in the living room. We have to check the 
> amount of damage - probably (the) electricity has to be all rebuilt," 
> he said.
>
> Other residents said they felt lucky.
>
> "I can handle this," said Lisa Sully, who had some flood damage to her 
> home in the suburb of Sherwood. "Mentally, I was prepared for worse."
>
> Many supermarkets in the city have been stripped of supplies, while a 
> number of rubbish collections and bus services have halted. More than 
> 100,000 properties had their power cut to reduce the risk of 
> electrocution.
>
> Where waters had receded in the city centre, sticky mud remained. 
> Officials said the clean-up could take months.
>
> Brisbane airport survived the swell and remains open, with almost all 
> flights unaffected. However, passengers are advised to check before 
> travel. Public transport to the airport is severely limited.
>
> Extra police have been brought in to patrol the city.
>
> The man who died was a 24-year-old who had gone to check on his 
> father's property and was sucked into a storm drain.
>
> The bodies of two victims of floods earlier this week were also found, 
> one in the Lockyer Valley and the other in Dalby, ABC said.
>
> Sixty-one people are still missing, with police very concerned about 
> 12 people in the Lockyer Valley not seen since their homes were 
> destroyed by a wall of water on Monday.
>
> More rain caused by a cyclone off the Queensland coast is forecast for 
> the next two days.
>
> The weeks of rain have been blamed on a La Nina weather pattern in the 
> Pacific.
>
> ------------------------------------------
>
> Vision2020 Post: Ted Moffett
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
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