Was Hurricane Harvey Caused By Climate Change?

The answer to this question is Yes, and No.  The fact is that Hurricane Harvey would have happened even without climate change, but it might have been just a tropical storm.  The area around Houston is perfect for storms and hurricanes, as seen over the past decades.  But things have changed, and through the emission of greenhouse gasses, we have warmed the earth.  We have also warmed the oceans, and this combination, along with heavy wind and rain, creates the perfect storm.

Scientists say that the human contribution to Hurricane Harvey is 30% of the total rainfall.  Houston area has had 4 100 year flooding events since 2015.  This is unprecedented.  The area is receiving 167% more heavy downpours than in the 1950's.  Man has interfered with the natural order of things, creating a climate that increases the chance of devastating hurricanes in the future.

We will always have storms, hurricanes and tornadoes.  How strong they are depends somewhat on man.  If we continue to emit greenhouse gasses that raise land and ocean temperatures, we will continue to have catastrophic events like Harvey.  It's only going to get worse.  We better wake up, listen to the scientists, take what mother nature is doing seriously, and deal with this serious topic.  Climate Change is Real.  Let's get a national program (unfortunately we're out of the Paris Accord) going to turn this around.  Thank goodness I live in California.  At least our leadership here has our state headed in the right direction.