Iman Mallakpour, Gabriele Villarini

Nature Climate Change

Published date February 9, 2015

The changing nature of flooding across the central United States

  • States that models of future climate show a pronounced increase in intense rainfall events as a warmer atmosphere can hold more moisture (the Clausius–Clapeyron relation)
  • Shows that while observational records (774 stream gauge stations) from the central United States present limited evidence of significant changes in the magnitude of floodpeaks, strong evidence points to an increasing frequency of flooding
  • Finds these changes in flood hydrology result from changes in both seasonal rainfall and temperature across this region