“Just like Superstorm Sandy, Arctic warming likely played an important role in making Hurricane Harvey such an extreme killer storm.”Researchers are still debating the exact role that climate change played in Harvey’s destructiveness. It’s difficult to make a direct connection between a single storm and climate change, and most scientists are quick to hedge public statements. But researchers interviewed by Gizmodo science editor Maddie Stone, who holds a Ph.D. in earth and environmental science, said climate change either did or “probably” made Harvey worse. Greene took it a step further by identifying how climate change influenced both the formation of the storm and the path it took. “Houston would have suffered much less damage if Category 4 Hurricane Harvey had just crashed through the city and petered out in West Texas.

Source: Huffington Post August 30, 2017 18:00 UTC