Dr Judy Lawrence, Senior Research Fellow, Climate Change Research Institute, Victoria University of Wellington, comments:
“The total disruption we saw from the heavy rainfall over the weekend on the West Coast and Marlborough is consistent with a changing climate that is warming and able to hold more water before dumping it. We can expect more of this. It is a global phenomenon – but our exposure in New Zealand to such extreme pluvial events is a timely reminder that we not only have to prepare for them, but also plan our way out of the most severe impacts and shift from our reactive mode to anticipate where the worst effects will be felt.
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