The Mississippi River is experiencing its second “500-year flood” since 1993. That’s no freak occurrence — scientists say it’s a result of human-made carbon pollution changing our climate.
The Mississippi River, the largest U.S. river system, is forecast to crest today in Memphis, Tennessee, just below its 74-year-old record, as a bulge of water moves south toward the riverside refineries in Louisiana.
The water was higher 74 years ago. 74 years is less than 500 years. 74 years ago CO2 was much lower than today. Do you have to prove you are scientifically incompetent to get a job at Grist?
I just read the mississippi had not yet crested but was much higher than ever recorded at least in some places.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/capital-weather-gang/post/mississippi-river-flood-waters-take-aim-at-delta-states/2011/05/11/AFrRpIrG_blog.html
“delta states” as in river delta, as in flood plain, as in those states were formed by floods.
Amazing what a levee can do to river levels.
I just rolled over the Mississippi as I crossed into Missouri today north of Memphis. The bridge was closed earlier this week due to the flooding. The crest is just moving down river.
Here’s why:
“Today, I had to explain to my mother that the eruption of volcanoes is mainly caused by the earth’s crust moving about, not by global warming. She’s a primary school teacher.”
TonyD:
You are really funny. You should apply for a job at Grist!
The Mississippi is a long river and it takes more than a month for the excess water to reach the Gulf.
Think about the many changes that have taken place along the river since 1937 and the flood level is just another weather event.
The Mississippi crested at Memphis Saturday and will crest at Natchez on the 21st. The “Wall” of water rolls down the river as it crested at the confluence of the Ohio about the time they opened the flood way in Missouri that was built just for this type of event after the flood in the 30s.
Maybe this will help:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20110511/sc_livescience/whatistoblameforthemississippifloods
good article. thanks Mike
But 74 years is 518 dog years. So, if you are a dog, they are correct. Grist is probably just doing a dog outreach program. Sort of like NASA only different.
When the Planetary Fever hits it is going to be tough on dogs. Can’t go for walks on water. And all that panting. Seems a UN Save The Dogs campaign is vital. Or maybe Shave the Dogs for cooling.
This flood. Not good. Feel for all the people being hit directly, and I’m guessing this will have impacts on food production. And how do they get rid of the mildew smell after a flood in that climate?
Al Gored – really – comparing the Grist writer to a dog is very insulting – to the dog! Even my neighbors pet Chihuahua is not as stupid as the grist writer!
Nicely said… 🙂
Earlier, I predicted the high rising of the Mississippi. There is nothing unusual about this flood. I traveled over the river earlier this week. This is what one would expect.
Working on a deal about how smart….smart grid is.
The weather is normally setting records somewhere. There is nothing new about that.
The floods of 1937 and 1927 were worse as the levees and dikes had not been built yet. So to get that high it must have stretched over a wide swath of land.
My main observation from watching the news is how Well this massive but far from unprecedented flood is being handled compared to many earlier floods .
Hey Al Qaeda is our ally in Libya but be afraid cause the CIA created it and they gonna get us again…and Obama watched the raid of Osama live but than the CIA says the feed went out that’s why we can’t see it…oh and the other reason is he died for the ninth time, search it… so yeah.,..no wonder…2+2=5 these days
I thought Globull Warming caused Al Queda.
I’ve been expecting some suicide penguins to attack ecotourists for climate justice. Maybe that won’t happen after all.
You have been watching Batman Returns too much! LOL
Read Mark Twain’s Life on the Mississippi: there’s nothing new there.
All things being equal, and they obvioulsy are not – if, the weather patterns, snow melt, vegitative ground cover vs hard surface run-off, were exactly the same with this seasons horrific flooding, as they were 74 years ago, the crest in Mississippi would be measurably higher today than it was then, simply because of the protective levee systems not in existence then. Much more water is channeling it way down stream today, than then, because it is channeled.
Dam that sweet La Nina she brings both pleasure (great skiing) and pain (floods)
I haven’t done a cross match with the historic flood data/years, but I would bet the shop that the largest floods occurred during and after La Nina does her snow thing in the mountains – here in BC, Canada last year was a low snow pack (Remember the winter Olympics hardly any snow) this winter was incredible and I’m looking out of my window right now at the local Ski mountains covered in over 650+ cm of snow, a great ski season (still) and that snow will end up downstream running into flat flood-able river deltas eventually as is evidenced in the US and Canada today with major flood warnings. The same thing happened in the southern hemisphere not so long ago such as Australia ect…….