Flood waters from the Brazos River encroach upon a home in the Horseshoe Bend neighborhood, Friday, May 29, 2015, in Weatherford, Texas.
Credit Brandon Wade / AP
A new studyreported in The Guardianhas determined that human pollution is partly responsible for the recent flooding in Texas and Oklahoma.
Dr. Simon Wang of Utah State University and his colleagues studied the effects of greenhouse gases on warming and cooling trends in the Pacific Ocean. These trends, known as El Niño and La Niña, can cause droughts and rainy seasons all over the world. And research has determined that the frequency of these oceanic disturbances has increased with the proliferation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. That’s because increasing temperatures can mean more moisture in the air, but heat also causes dryness.
The article warned that without efforts to reduce pollution, we can expect more extreme weather in the future.