Climate change has doubled the likelihood.
Biblical Vibes
The state of California is no stranger to natural disasters, always on edge in fearful anticipation of the next "Big One." But what if California’s worst catastrophe came not from wildfires, droughts, or earthquakes, but a megaflood?, examines two scenarios: a more or less current megaflood in the recent historical climate, and a future scenario in the projected climate of 2081-2100.
And now thanks to climate change, the next storm is not only more likely to happen, but it's likely to be even more destructive. "In the future scenario, the storm sequence is bigger in almost every respect," said study co-author and UCLA climate scientist Daniel SwainSuch a flood would be big enough to generate up to 400 percent more runoff water in the Sierra Nevada Mountains than in historical records.
"Every major population center in California would get hit at once — probably parts of Nevada and other adjacent states, too," Swain said.
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