The severe flooding can best be appreciated from the air. The Norman abbey in Tewkesbury, founded in 1087 and consecrated in 1121, now stands alone against the advancing flood water.
Independent (uk): England under water: scientists confirm global warming link to increased rain
It's official: the heavier rainfall in Britain is being caused by climate change, a major new scientific study will reveal this week, as the country reels from summer downpours of unprecedented ferocity.
More intense rainstorms across parts of the northern hemisphere are being generated by man-made global warming, the study has established for the first time an effect which has long been predicted but never before proved.
The study's findings will be all the more dramatic for being disclosed as Britain struggles to recover from the phenomenal drenching of the past few days, during which more than a month's worth of rain fell in a few hours in some places, and floods forced thousands from their homes.
The Town of Colchester in New York State got two months worth of rain -- 8 inches -- in two hours last month. Those flash floods washed away homes and four people lost their lives.
This is happening worldwide:
Times (uk): Global warming already changing rainfall
A STUDY has yielded the first confirmation that global warming is already affecting the world's rainfall patterns, bringing more precipitation to northern Europe, Canada and northern Russia but less to swathes of sub-Saharan Africa, southern India and Southeast Asia.
kansascity.com: Torrential rains cause flooding in South and Central Texas
As much as 17 inches of rain had fallen in some areas between 10 p.m. Friday and 10 a.m. Saturday, said Pat McDonald, a National Weather Service forecaster. Dozens of people were rescued, some by helicopter, but no serious injuries were reported in the state’s latest round of flooding.
Haaretz.com: Report: Global warming could cause future flooding in Tel Aviv, Haifa
According to the projected scenarios, if no steps are taken to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, there will be a 3.3 degree rise in temperatures in the summer, and there will be a rise in the frequency, intensity and length of heat waves. There will also be a 20-30 percent drop in the annual amount of precipitation and a reduction in days of rainfall, but a rise in incidents of torrential rain.
Pakistan Daily Times: Floods could become more frequent
Parts of China had the heaviest rainfall since records began, killing more than 400. Some 770 people have been killed by flooding in South Asia with hundreds of thousands displaced by flash floods in southern Pakistan.
“They had no time to react,” said UNICEF spokeswoman Kathryn Grusovin from Balochistan. “They hadn’t seen rains like this in living memory. There had been episodes of flooding but this was right off the map. You are talking massive amounts of rain that has never been seen before.”
It is a similar story around the globe. More than 50 people were killed in Sudan. Hundreds had to flee homes in northern England as the water rose. In Colombia, flooding displaced some 50,000 people.
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