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Colby Sears
Professor David Perkins
Readings in Journalism 225
13 December 2013
Flooding: Causes & Climate Change
September 2013: Boulder, Colorado is inundated by record rainfall, amassing to
more than half a year’s worth of rain in the span of just three days. With a countless
number of homes washed away and streets severely damaged, thousands of citizens
were uprooted by weather fully out of their control. Was this weather event of biblical
proportions – a flooding that left eight dead and an entire region devastated –
influenced by climate change, a concept more prevalent now than ever? How has
climate change affected extreme weather like flooding in certain regions of the world
in the twenty-first century? And more importantly, is there anything we can do to
prevent it?
Jenny Shank, a resident of Boulder and witness to the massive flooding,
provided a firsthand testimony of the time spent in her hometown during the days
leading up to and the days of the flood. On Wednesday, September 11, 2013, Shank
says the rain began to fall, only slightly heavier than usual. The next day she says that
the school systems closed and a collective panic set in on the inhabitants of the soonto-be submerged city. Shank writes “I should work, but can’t concentrate so I nervously
clean as we listen to reports of a twenty-foot wall of water rushing down nearby…our
basement began to flood later that evening…the water seeps in from the foundation
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now, faster than we can remove it” (From Boulder, Colorado: Notes on a ThousandYear Flood).
It was only days later that Shank, her family, her neighbors, and her fellow
citizens became inhabitants of a “federal disaster area” on Sunday, September 15. She
describes a scene of cleanup crews donned in white hazmat suits and disaster relief
trucks lining the neighborhood streets as drywallers, plumbers, contractors, and
garbage haulers flooded the area. School was cancelled for her children for another two
days and communal dumpsters were erected outside of nearly every home; she and
her husband had no choice but to rip out their carpet, piles upon piles, her home
becoming more damaged as the days progressed. Flood sirens rang in the distance, her
hope slowly diminishing.
The city of Boulder receives, on average, 1.7 inches of rain during the month of
September. A report in Time magazine claims “As of 7 AM on September 16, Boulder
had received 17.17 inches of rain so far in the month, smashing the all-time record of
9.59 inches set in May of 1995. 9.08 inches fell on Sept. 12, nearly doubling the
previous record of 4.80 inches set on July 31, 1919. In fact, Boulder has already broken
its yearly record for precipitation – with more than three months left in the year, and
the rain still falling” (The Science Behind Colorado’s Thousand-Year Flood). It is clearly
evident that the Boulder flooding shattered precipitation records in just hours, but how
and why did this occur? What brought about this once-in-a-thousand-year flood?
A number of factors can contribute to the imbalance that causes flooding, most
likely attributed to heavy, intense rainfall (in the case of Boulder), run-off from deep
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snow cover, over-saturated or frozen soil, high water levels, ice jams, and severe levels
of urbanization (The Science of Floods). The ongoing battle between human progress
and Mother Nature is an issue that continues to plague our current society, in which we
as humans have tainted the natural landscape of our earth. A majority of populated
areas are crowded with concrete surfaces, buildings, parking lots, and roads, which do
little to help during significant rainfall. Unlike soil – which is able to perform as a
sponge and soak up rainwater – urban areas can easily become inundated with water,
overflowing storm sewers and clogging drainage ditches. Although the urbanization of
America may have contributed to the severity of floods, there is a more significant
issue at hand: the change of our climate.
According to the Natural Resources Defense Council, “Climate change has
contributed to a rise in extreme weather events – including higher-intensity hurricanes
in the North Atlantic and heavier rainfalls across the country. Scientists project that
climate change will increase the frequency of heavy rainstorms, putting many
communities at risk for devastation from floods” (Flooding: Devastating Floods and
Heavy Rains). Flooding and increased rainfall, as seen in the city of Boulder, create
massive implications for communities of any size. Ranging from moldy and
deteriorated living conditions to contaminated drinking water to, most importantly,
death and injury, the consequences of extreme flooding in any area are disastrous to all
involved.
Meteorologists and researchers with the National Weather Service and National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in Boulder have attributed a tropical air mass
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– stemming from the Gulf of Mexico and displaced into the Colorado region by air
coming form the south – as a major cause to the flooding of Boulder. With air impacting
the mountains, rapidly moving upward and simultaneously cooling, precipitation was
caused; the weather was pinned to the area for about a week due to an upper-level
high-pressure system, allowing the rain to continue to fall.
Martin Hoerling, a research meteorologist in Boulder claims that the rain fell the
way it did, in such large amounts and in such short time, due to an uncommon
atmospheric circulation. An interview with Hoerling in the Scientific American reports,
“the amount of precipitable water measured in the atmosphere was record-high. Global
warming is known to increase the amount of moisture in the atmosphere” (What is the
Climate Change Context behind the Colorado Floods?)
Climate change and global warming – both issues more important now than
ever to the evolution of our earth and the human race –must be prevented if massive
flooding and other extreme weather events are no longer to occur. The David Suzuki
Foundation aims to spread awareness of climate issues like these and published a tenstep plan to reduce carbon footprints. Although the contributions of a single individual
may seem insignificant compared to larger global problems, the actions of each and
every human can have a collective, beneficial effect on mankind and our habitat as a
whole.
Suzuki offers solutions in the forms of green commuting, utilizing energy
efficient electronics, cutting down on airline usage and other pollution-emitting forms
of transportation, becoming informed about the issues of climate change, and getting
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involved in community restoration acts, to name a few (Top 10 Ways You Can Stop
Climate Change). The Center for Disease Control and Prevention outlines a similar plan
for the conscious individual, saying, “The planet’s climate is changing and these
changes are likely to affect human health. Individuals, families, and communities can
make adjustments to prepare for these changed. Taking these steps can help you stay
healthy in the future.” (Prevention and Preparedness).
Climate change is an ongoing issue. Not only will it eventually affect our human
health and living environment, but also can drastically alter the weather status of our
planet along the way. The implications of the Boulder, CO flooding were far too
disastrous for any human to experience; with restoration still in progress and both the
region and its inhabitants devastated, the change of our climate must become a global
concern. We cannot continue to live in a world where our own actions and methods of
living could potentially bring about harm.
Jenny Shank aims “to live differently in the future, aspiring to the minimalism
depicted in the old photo of Steve Jobs sitting cross legged on the floor of his house
furnished with just a lamp and a cup of tea” (From Boulder, Colorado: Notes on a
Thousand-Year Flood). It is with this minimalist attitude that the human race must
aspire to live by. The biblical flooding of Boulder, an event catastrophic in emotional,
economic, and social respects, should not become a reoccurrence. Climate change must
be changed, sooner rather than later.
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Works Cited
"Climate Change Threatens Health: Flooding." NRDC. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Dec. 2013.
Ogburn, Stephanie Paige. "What Is the Climate Change Context behind the Colorado
Floods?" Scientific American. ClimateWire, 18 Sept. 2013. Web. 10 Dec. 2013.
"Prevention and Preparedness." Climate and Health Program. Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, 14 Dec. 2009. Web. 12 Dec. 2013.
"The Science of Floods." PBS. N.p., 1 Sept. 1997. Web. 9 Dec. 2013.
Shank, Jenny. "From Boulder, Colorado: Notes on a Thousand-Year Flood." The Atlantic.
N.p., 20 Sept. 2013. Web. 10 Dec. 2013.
Suzuki, David. "Top 10 Ways You Can Stop Climate Change." David Suzuki Foundation.
N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Dec. 2013.
Walsh, Bryan. "The Science Behind Colorado’s Thousand-Year Flood." Science & Space.
Time Magazine, 17 Sept. 2013. Web. 9 Dec. 2013.