The flash floods in Central Texas that have killed more than 100 people and left dozens missing happened quickly, raising the Guadalupe River 26 feet in just 45 minutes. CBS News environmental correspondent David Schechter joins to explain how climate change impacts severe weather events.

Texas

Environmental experts have highlighted the connection between climate change and the recent flash floods in Central Texas, which caused the Guadalupe River to rise rapidly and resulted in over 100 fatalities. According to CBS News correspondent David Schechter, a warmer atmosphere—caused by greenhouse gas emissions—can hold more moisture, leading to heavier and more sudden rainfall events.

While direct attribution studies are still pending for this specific flood, scientists note that such extreme weather is consistent with broader climate trends. The cycle of prolonged drought followed by intense rain can make the ground less able to absorb water, worsening flood impacts. These conditions are increasingly expected in a warming world.

How climate change could have impacted the Texas floods

All right, look who's next to me. It's CBS News National Environmental Correspondent David Schechter. And you've got a connection for us, David, between climate change and what happened in Curve. A lot of people wondering, is there a direct connection? Help us understand from your point of view how it may or may not have played a role. Hey, Errol. Well, there's a very clear connection between climate change and the extreme weather that we get now, which is more extreme, more fires, more floods, more droughts. Speaking specifically about this intense rainfall, the connection, the science is actually pretty simple and basic that you have a warming atmosphere. You know, we release greenhouse gases from our cars and from our factories and from our power plants. That is warming our atmosphere. A warmer atmosphere is capable of holding more moisture in it. And so there's more moisture that can come down. And what we see as a result of this sort of stacking up of phenomenon is that it comes down in shorter bursts much, much harder. We don't know yet today what the direct connection is between climate change and what's happened in Curveville. And there will be some studies that look at that. But scientists say this is precisely the kind of impact we should expect in a warming world. Right, and climate is trends over time, whereas weather is what's happening in one single day. And what strikes me from what you've just said is climate change means more extremes in just about every direction. And before this storm, it had actually been very dry in this area of Central Texas. So what does the science tell us about these swings through drought-like conditions and then extreme rain all at once? Great question. I think on the face of it, it can be a little confusing for people to think about these two things being related, but they're two sides of the same coin. So as we warm our atmosphere, it becomes drier on the ground and we have more potential for drought. But also what happens then is when we get those conditions where there is more rain, more water that we just talked about, the surface of the earth is now dry and compact and hard. So you get a tremendous amount of rain in a short period of time, and then you're dealing with conditions on the ground where the ground is very challenging to absorb any of that moisture or enough moisture to slow this all down. So it's a bit of a cycle. You have the dry surfaces, you have intense rainfall, and then when it comes down, it becomes sort of a double whammy. Yeah, and Camp Mystic was actually set up in what was a dry riverbed. They perhaps never imagined that that river would go beyond its banks. David Schechter, great to chat with you about this. We appreciate your time today. Another very quick reminder, if you want to help flood victims and the state in its recovery efforts, just head on over to cbsnews.com slash help Texas. Many ways for you to donate there.

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