Tag: Pacific Northwest

Evidence of climate change abounds amid extreme weather in the Pacific Northwest

The following article by James Hohmann with Breanne Deppisch and Joanie Greve was posted on the Washington Post website August 14, 2017:

THE BIG IDEA:

A man sunbathes last week in view of the Space Needle, which is partially obscured by wildfire smoke covering the region from British Columbia fires. Soggy Seattle clocked the wettest winter on record just months ago. Then the city went in the other extreme: its longest dry streak ever. (Elaine Thompson/AP)

SEATTLE—This city known for its rain just went a record-breaking 55 days without any.

The Seattle-Tacoma International Airport had not measured any precipitation since June 18 until the wee hours of Sunday morning, when it drizzled. Barely. Some sprinkles also allowed Portland to break its own 57-day dry streak.

Climate change is leading to more extreme weather, and no other region has experienced that so much over the last year as the Pacific Northwest. Seattle got 44.9 inches of rain between Oct. 1 and April 30, the wettest such period ever. That means, even with the record dry streak, 2017 remains above normal for rainfall.

America faces many grave challenges. The horrifying events in Charlottesville this weekend highlighted several, including racism and the enduring stain of America’s original sin. (Much more on that below.) Climate change is another. Continue reading “Evidence of climate change abounds amid extreme weather in the Pacific Northwest”