If you didn’t see the floods in Maryland this weekend, they were were “OMG” and “what the heck is going on” bad.  In Ellicott City, Maryland, a suburb west of Baltimore, 5.52 inches of rain fell over a 90-minute period according to the National Weather Service (NWS). Nearly half (3.16 in) of the storm’s total rainfall (6.50 in) fell in the first 30 minutes. As predictable as the sunrise, there will be the usual banter by the “what is the role of climate change” crowd and the “floods always happened” crowd. I review some of the current science of extreme rainfall – climate change attribution but that is not my point herein. My goal is to discuss 2 overlooked ways human-activity affect these floods: urban impervious surface and storm water management systems.

from Forbes – Tech http://ift.tt/2aFNZxD
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