Australia floodwaters cover area bigger than Texas

More flooding. How long will it be before there is a terrorist attack on our country because of our contribution to global warming?

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40862006/ns/weather/

updated 12/31/2010 10:22:48 AM ET 2010-12-31T15:22:48

BRISBANE, Australia — Military aircraft dropped supplies to towns cut off by floods in northeastern Australia as the prime minister promised new assistance Friday to the 200,000 people affected by waters. Southern Australia, meanwhile, soaring temperatures and tinder dry conditions have sparked wildfires.

Residents were stocking up on food or evacuating their homes as rising rivers inundated or isolated 22 towns in the state of Queensland.

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The worst flooding in about 50 years has been caused by a "La Nina" weather pattern

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As usual, no mention of the affects of global warming on the El Niño/La Niña cycle, or the fact that the amount of moisture in the air has increased because of GW, leading to heavier precipitation.

http://environment.about.com/od/globalwarming/a/elninolanina.htm

How is Global Warming Related to El Niño and La Niña?
Some scientists believe that the increased intensity and frequency—now every two to three years—of El Niño and La Niña events in recent decades is due to warmer ocean temperatures resulting from global warming. In a 1998 report, scientists from NOAA explained that higher global temperatures might be increasing evaporation from land and adding moisture to the air, thus intensifying the storms and floods associated with El Niño.

Another take on what’s happening is from Kevin Trenberth, a climatologist at the Colorado-based National Center for Atmospheric Research. Trenberth believes that the Southern Oscillation may be functioning like a pressure release valve for the tropics. With global warming driving temperatures higher, ocean currents and weather systems might not be able to release all the extra heat getting pumped into the tropical seas; as such an El Niño occurs to help expel the excess heat.

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