From the testimony of Dr. Kevin Trenberth, a leader in the US delegation of scientists to the IPCC, and one of four scientists who just testified before the House Committee on Science and Technology. (For a webcast or more testimony, see the well-designed House website.)
But enough of acronyms and official titles. Here’s one little aspect of Trenberth’s prepared statement about our new world:
A key ingredient in changes in character of precipitation is the observed increase in water vapor and thus supply of atmospheric moisture to all storms, increasing the intensity of precipitation events. Indeed, widespread increases in heavy precipitation events and risk of flooding have been observed, even in places where total amounts have decreased. Hence the frequency of heavy rain events has increased in most places but so too has episodic heavy snowfall events that are thus associated with warming.
Upstate New York buried in snow, according to the NYTimes:
Kit Stolz 