SOURCE: Inside Climate News
DATE: Aug 10, 2017
SNIP: Spring flooding along many of Europe’s rivers is starting weeks earlier now than it did 50 years ago, and some winter flooding is starting later as the climate changes, a new study shows.
In Scandinavia and the Baltics—where snowmelt is the main driver of high water—spring floods are coming a week earlier than they did 50 years ago. Along the North Atlantic coast from Portugal to England, winter flooding in many places occurs 15 to 36 days earlier, driven by changes in the timing of winter rain storms and changes in soil moisture.
“The trends we found are in line with projections from climate models. We can see climate change very clearly,” said co-author Berit Arheimer of the Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute.