Climate Change Made Hurricane Harvey Worse, Scientists Say

Hurricane Harvey, the historic behemoth that killed dozens and drenched Texas in rain, was made far worse by climate change, scientists said in two separate studies released Wednesday.

The research, published in the journals Geophysical Research Letters and Environmental Research Letters and presented at the fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union, found Harvey’s unprecedented rainfall was at least 15 percent heavier due to global warming. The occurrence of such a strong storm was also about three times more likely to happen, the authors concluded.