Swain and his co-author Xingying Huang used new weather modeling and expected climate scenarios to look at two scenarios: What a similar storm system would look like today, and at the end of the century.since 1862 — makes it twice as likely that a similar scale flood occurs today. In future, hotter scenarios, the storm systems grow more frequent and more intense. End-of-the-century storms, they found, could generate 200-400 percent more runoff in the Sierra Nevada Mountains than now.
Future iterations of the research, Swain says, will focus on what that increased intensity means on the ground — what areas will flood and for how long.. It found that the scale of the flooding and the economic fallout would affect every part of the state and cause three times as much damage as a 7.8 earthquake on the San Andreas fault. Relief efforts would be complicated by road closures and infrastructure damage. Economic fallout would be felt globally.
Swain says that California has been behind the curve in dealing with massive climate-fueled wildfires, and can't afford to lag on floods too.Support for LAist comes fromFires. Mudslides. Heat waves. What questions do you need answered as you prepare for the effects of the climate emergency?
What parts of CA are most vulnerable?
Be afraid immediately. Details to be supplied later.