Spain’s horrific flooding another nasty hit in a fall where climate extremes just keep coming

AP Science Writer

The deadly flooding in Valencia Spain is just the latest in a spate of climate extremes that seem to have shifted into overdrive, especially in rain-weary Europe. This fall, France, Austria and Czech Republic have been hit by heavy downpours. Italy’s gotten soaked twice, once in September and then again in October. Meteorologists say climate change likely played a role in two ways. A warmer atmosphere holds and then dumps more moisture. And some scientists think climate change has caused a wavier jet stream — the thing that moves storm systems around the globe — and that can mean more systems that get stuck and dump all their rain in one place.