Romm hysterically reports :
The Gulf Coast region, still reeling from the oil-laden assault on its ecosystem and livelihoods, is now bracing for what’s being called one of the worst cases of flooding since the 1920s and “the nation’s slowest moving natural disaster.” Economists are projecting billions of dollars in damages just as local Gulf-dependent industries such as fisheries, aquaculture, and tourism are struggling back to profitability after the devastating blows from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and the BP oil spill.
“one of the worst cases of flooding since the 1920s” With a definitive statement like that, how can any rational person doubt that this is unprecedented and due to CO2?
If it happened in the 1920’s, it’s within the range of natural variability.
lol, Obviously, it was the cooling aerosols that caused the flooding back in the 20s!
Good to know it’s not unprecedented. Thanks, Baghdad Romm.
It is a funny thing. From a river system perspective the Mississippi is designed to seasonally flood over its banks across it’s massive flood plain depositing silt, etc as it goes. Over time the river would switch course, meander, cut off bends and find new routes across the flood plain. Now that the river is constrained by massive dike systems much of the silt remains in the main river channels unless dredged. Thus over time the floor of the river rises higher, the dikes must be raised and over time the actual elevation of the base of the river can be actually higher than the surrounding flood plain.
Thus, all things being equal, with a flood in say 2010, and a flood in 1900, both of equal size, the 1900 flood would spread out, flow down the river which would be relatively low in elevation in reference to the flood plain. Now, in 2010, the same size flood is constrained within the levy systems (which is a very unstable system). When the system breaks, the countryside is suddenly flooded to a depth that is deeper than normal as virtually none of the water wants to stay in the presently elevated river channel.
So, present day smaller floods should naturally cause much more damage. The extent of flooding and amount of damage (i.e. any increase) is not a metric or in any way a measure of the `worsening situation due to climate change’. That idea is total bull and has no basis in geological reality. In fact, if the damage isn’t worse than expected, it indicates 1) the engineering is temporarily working (but will become more and more unstable with the passage of time), and or 2) the flooding events are actually less extreme which is counter to the Romm type of argument. Loons they all are!
In addition to all that, you’ve also got to factor in the effects of the widespread urbanisation which has taken place over the last 100 years. Much of the rain that falls in urban areas used to soak into the ground, where it would eventually replenish the aquifers. Now it runs off straight into the rivers……
So… it seems some obvious in RommWorld that Globull Warming must have caused those levees to rise, just like the sea level. Same for pavement.
This is clearly proven by the correlation between GISS temperature data and the increase in levees and urban sprawl.
Still worse, capitalism caused everything.
“Its the worse flooding I can remember,” said one six year old.
OT
Did Cindy Crawford drop Obama and go to Romney?
http://thehill.com/capital-living/in-the-know/161557-actress-cindy-crawford-now-a-romney-supporter-
we have to stop letting the left pick our candidates………….
I don’t understand.
AAM, this is a purposeful tactic employed by leftists. That Crawford showed up at Romney’s thing simply means the left has stamped Romney as acceptable to run against. They did this for McCain last time, too.
Using this method any true conservative will be deemed “extreme right wing”, because Romney and McCain are basically centrists. And while being a centrist isn’t inherently bad, in this case it usually means they stand for nothing and are uninspired. Its a win-win for the left. Even if the centrist somehow wins, he’d have no mandate to change anything and he wouldn’t have the fight in him to do so if he wanted. I could be wrong about Romney, but I’m waiting for him to do something, say something, or pretend to be a leader and motivate people to act.
That said, Romney may be what we’re left with if someone doesn’t step up and start leading. I’m not very optimistic that we’re going to get rid of One Big Ass Mistake America. The disarray the repubs are in doesn’t bode well for the next election. I was hoping for Pawlenty to step up, but I’m still waiting.
Ann Coulter was for Romney in 2008. Now she’s against him and says, “If we don’t run Chris Christie, it’s going to be Romney, because Republican primary voters — for some reason — refuse to do any research before voting.” She also said, “If we don’t run Chris Christie, Romney will be the nominee and we’ll lose.”
She also must not have done her research 3 years ago:
“At worst, Romney will turn out to be a moderate Republican — a high-IQ, articulate, moral, wildly successful, moderate Republican”
http://www.anncoulter.com/cgi-local/article.cgi?article=230
Who knows what to believe, eh?
I thought Pawlenty was a big Cap N Trade guy?
I think he’s revised his position. Getting a politician to come out firmly against the ideal of climate change will prove to be impossible. I like Christie, but I don’t think he’s electable. I hate to say this, but Americans vote very shallow. Christie’s appearance would be huge to overcome in a national election. Maybe if he started eating at subway or some such ………. but more than that, if he wants to run, then he needs to get off his arse and pick up the mantle that’s just sitting on the floor. This is insane the way its playing out. No one wants to be assertive. THEY CAN’T GET ELECTED UNLESS THEY ARE ASSERTIVE!!! No one is moving the base and if they continue in this manner, the base won’t move.
Coulter may be right, and I think Romney’s chance may have passed him by. Personally, I have a visceral reaction to moderates and that may be why I’m down on Romney.
Amino: “I thought Pawlenty was a big Cap N Trade guy?”
In the first televised debate he emphatically stated that his support for that was a mistake and that, after looking further into it, he has changed his position.
What kind of a politician is that!!! A rare one.
suyts: “Getting a politician to come out firmly against the ideal of climate change will prove to be impossible.”
If they allow them to keep using that Orwellianly blurred term “climate change,” yes. But Mitch Daniels has already come out and called it BS in the effective way – pointing out that even by IPCC stats, they would be killing off their economy for zip. He even said that ‘not one polar bear would be saved.’ Sweet.
So it can be done. Not by tilting at the windmill they have created. But by calling their bluff on the balance between the gasping economy versus no impact in 100 years.
If only most of the media wasn’t so bought off… I think its going to be truly ugly. Not just on TV.
Incredibly, Juan Williams has a good grasp of the repub problems.
http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2011/05/18/incredible-shrinking-gop-presidential-race/
With a FLOOD PLAIN that reaches Missouri. With Millions of acres of drained swamps. With sections designed as Flood Ways. WTF did they expect to happen.
I have an easement on my property for flooding and nothing is to be built there. My neighbor has 1700 by 300 ft of flood easement on the front of her property. It is used to grow hay for cattle. She is concerned the lake will back up for the third time since 1970 to flood her front yard and cover her driveway.
They knew it was a matter of time before the region is flooded and I doubt many could afford flood insurance if they could even get it.
Natural oil seeps do as much damage as the blow out. Hurricanes are common events in the gulf region. Flooding of the Mississippi created the land those people farm and is also common.
I’m confused!
Is Comrade Romm telling us that CO2 was higher in the 1920s?
Is that why the flooding was even worse back then?
The only ones that are stupid are those who don’t know what “since” means.