A Weather Model Assumes an Increase in Flash Flooding Across the United States According to Meteorologist

According to research published earlier this month in Nature, people living in places throughout the United States would likely face an increase in flash floods by the end of the century as a result of climate change.

The study team, coordinated by the University of Oklahoma and including NOAA's National Severe Storms Laboratory and the National Center for Atmospheric Research, used simulations from climate and water flow models to forecast future flash floods.

The models revealed extensive increases in flash floods over the majority of the United States.

The new climate models

(Photo : WAKIL KOHSAR/AFP via Getty Images)

The most recent U.N. Climate change reports chronicled academics' work that demonstrated that some measurements of global warming are now inescapable, and current research efforts are concentrating on mitigation and adaptation options.

According to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, this is a global issue that is felt on a local basis.

Similarly, experts at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration are offering data, tools, and information to help people better understand and prepare for climate change.

One of the implications of climate change is a shift in the frequency of flash flooding events, as well as the places where they most frequently occur.

A team led by the University of Oklahoma, in collaboration with the NOAA National Severe Storms Laboratory and collaborators at the National Center for Atmospheric Research, developed simulations from coupled climate and hydrologic models that show widespread increases in the occurrences of flash flooding events across most of the United States, as per ScienceDaily.

Yang Hong, an associate professor of hydrology and remote sensing at the OU School of Civil Engineering and Environmental Sciences and the School of Meteorology, is the study's principal investigator.

He is the head of the Hydrometeorology and Remote Sensing Laboratory at OU, as well as the founding director of the online master's program in hydrology and water security.

The researchers employed climate simulations and modeling over a 30-year period, 2070-2100, to estimate the location and severity of flash floods.

The impact, dubbed "flashiness" by the researchers, indicates the chance of meteorological conditions that might induce fast rainfall and flash floods.

Also Read: Heavy Rainfall Persist in Southeastern US, Increasing Risks of Flash Flood

The increased change in climate

The modeling approach employed for the research was emphasized by Zhi Li, a Ph.D. student at the HyDROS Lab and the study's primary author.

"It achieves the notion of 'Digital Twin in Earth System Science,' where one is our living climate and the other is our future," Li explained.

"It wasn't until we successfully worked on such studies that climate change became so real to me."

The study discovered that flash floods will grow differently in different parts of the United States.

The Southwest is projected to witness the most shift, with a more than 10% forecast rise, while the Central US is expected to have an 8.6 percent increase.

According to the overall findings, future flash flood-prone zones in the United States are shifting northward.

"Now is the moment to consider on improving flood protection," Yang Hong remarked.

"Of course, reducing greenhouse gas concentrations is the ultimate solution, but in the interim, we may consider strategies to decrease vulnerabilities and increase flash flooding safety teaching," as per CNET.