Publication Date May 6, 2017 | Inside Climate News

Extreme weather flooding the Midwest looks a lot like climate change

United States
A flooded neighborhood in Arnold, Missouri on May 4, 2017. Heavy downpours from slow-moving storms over the past week sent rivers over their banks, flooding towns and shutting down roads and highways in several states. Photo: Michael B. Thomas, Getty Images
A flooded neighborhood in Arnold, Missouri on May 4, 2017. Heavy downpours from slow-moving storms over the past week sent rivers over their banks, flooding towns and shutting down roads and highways in several states. Photo: Michael B. Thomas, Getty Images

"Of course there is a climate change connection, because the oceans and sea surface temperatures are higher now because of climate change, and in general that adds 5 to 10 percent to the precipitation," Kevin Trenberth, a climate scientist with the National Center for Atmospheric Research, said. "There have been many so-called 500-year floods along the Mississippi about every five to 10 years since 1993.”