Climate change made recent flooding in Midwest, South more intense, report finds

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.