Climate change made recent flooding in Midwest, South more intense, report finds
CBSN
The deadly storms that tore through eight U.S. states in early April, killing at least 24 people, were made significantly worse by climate change, according to a study released this week.
Analysis from World Weather Attribution, a climate science group, found that human-caused global warming made the record-breaking downpours about 9% heavier. The powerful storms destroyed homes, roads and farmland.
From April 3 to April 6, the storms swept across the Midwest and South, dumping record amounts of rain across Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, and other states. The study found the four days of rainfall was the heaviest ever recorded for the region. The storm's intensity was fueled in part by unusually warm sea surface temperatures in the Gulf of Mexico, which were about 1.2 degrees Celsius (2.2 degrees Fahrenheit) hotter than normal due to climate change, the study determined.

Another winter storm may be headed toward the East Coast of the United States this weekend, on the heels of a powerful and deadly system that blanketed huge swaths of the country in snow and ice. The effects of that original storm have lingered for many areas in its path, and will likely remain as repeated bouts of Arctic air plunge downward from Canada and drive temperatures below freezing. Nikki Nolan contributed to this report. In:

Washington — The Senate is set to take a procedural vote Thursday morning on a package to fund the remaining government agencies and programs, with less than two days to avoid a partial government shutdown. But Democrats say they won't allow the package to move forward without reforms to immigration enforcement. Caitlin Huey-Burns contributed to this report.











