Frequency modulation: The likelihood of floods is changing with the climate

Print section Print Rubric:  Centuries ain't what they used to be Print Headline:  Frequency modulation Print Fly Title:  The chances of disaster UK Only Article:  standard article Issue:  How government policy exacerbates hurricanes like Harvey Fly Title:  Frequency modulation IN 1979 it was Claudette; in 2001 it was Allison; now it is Harvey: in 50 years, the city of Houston has been hit by three separate "500-year floods". A 500-year flood does not have to happen only twice a millennium. But a run of three in one place does make it feel as if the past climate were no longer a reliable guide to the present—as if the climate itself were changing. So, of course, it is. The world's average temperature is between 0.6 and 0.7°C (1.1- 1.3°F) higher than it was in 1979. Scientists have understood since the 1850s that hotter air holds more water vapour; a law known as the Clausius-Clapeyron equation states that for every degree Celsius of ...

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