Record Weather Shocks

Flooding in Argentina after non-stop rain.

In La Plata, a provincial capital 30 miles from Buenos Aires, 48 people were reported to have died after more than 12 inches of rain fell in just a few hours on Tuesday night. The flooding also claimed six lives in Buenos Aires after the heaviest April rainfall in more than a century fell on Monday night.

Monday night’s rainfall of more than six inches in Buenos Aires was the heaviest in April since records began being kept in 1906, officials said. The monthly average for the capital is 3.8 inches, and the city flooded four times last year.

Argentine Floods

 

And in Montana, as plans for the XL pipeline get closer to reality, a local farmer worries about climate change

“We go from one extreme to another,” said Sikorski. “With either extreme, I can’t produce anything.”

Sikorski sees climate change as a culprit, and the Keystone XL pipeline — which is slated to run within a couple miles of his ranch — as likely to make matters worse.

“There are a lot of safety issues with the pipeline itself. It could rupture and leak as it crosses farms and ranches,” he said. “But my main issue is climate change.”