4 ms·

It's both. The answer is both. These storms are becoming more frequent and more powerful, and the public is more aware of them.

snapplebobapple 3y ago
That's usually what "probably more that..." means. The post I was responding to proposed one reason and I responded with the correct answer that it is probably more that reporting is quite a lot better now. If I was negating their answer I would have said "No, that is wrong, this is why...." Even in the last 40 years my answer is correct because people's exposure to this has increased leaps and bounds faster due to reporting than it has due to actual events happening. Hell, even in the 30 or so years I personally remember this is true. My local climate has barely changed while my exposure to news about climate disasters has exploded.
oceanplexian 3y ago
I feel like the science behind West Coast weather phenomena is dubious, if only because the West Coast US has basically no historical record. There probably were a number of extreme weather events that hit CA before the 19th century. In fact if you delve into it, there are a number of legends passed down from the indigenous peoples describing huge fires and unbelievable rain storms that flooded the whole of the central valley. 40M of people now live in a place where we have literally no idea what kind of weird one-off weather events hit every 100-200 years.
- dragonwriter 3y ago
  > I feel like the science behind West Coast weather phenomena is dubious, if only because the West Coast US has basically no historical record. There’s not a separate science of “West Coast weather phenomena”. > There probably were a number of extreme weather events that hit CA before the 19th century. Doubtless. No one would be surprised by this. > In fact if you delve into it, there are a number of legends passed down from the indigenous peoples describing huge fires and unbelievable rain storms that flooded the whole of the central valley. Huge fires are clearly things that can happen in California. Rain storms flooding the whole Central Valley aren’t as extreme as, say, over-a-month rain storms producing flooding everywhere on earth, as legends go, but have similar plausibility problems in that (1) they would leave material evidence which would have been found, and (2) the very same absence of a large-scale community with detailed records and communications that lets you say “the West Coast US has basically no historical record” means that the source of any such legend would necessarily have to be really free extrapolation from a much narrower observation.

snapplebobapple 3y ago

That's usually what "probably more that..." means. The post I was responding to proposed one reason and I responded with the correct answer that it is probably more that reporting is quite a lot better now. If I was negating their answer I would have said "No, that is wrong, this is why...." Even in the last 40 years my answer is correct because people's exposure to this has increased leaps and bounds faster due to reporting than it has due to actual events happening. Hell, even in the 30 or so years I personally remember this is true. My local climate has barely changed while my exposure to news about climate disasters has exploded.

oceanplexian 3y ago

I feel like the science behind West Coast weather phenomena is dubious, if only because the West Coast US has basically no historical record. There probably were a number of extreme weather events that hit CA before the 19th century. In fact if you delve into it, there are a number of legends passed down from the indigenous peoples describing huge fires and unbelievable rain storms that flooded the whole of the central valley. 40M of people now live in a place where we have literally no idea what kind of weird one-off weather events hit every 100-200 years.

dragonwriter 3y ago
> I feel like the science behind West Coast weather phenomena is dubious, if only because the West Coast US has basically no historical record. There’s not a separate science of “West Coast weather phenomena”. > There probably were a number of extreme weather events that hit CA before the 19th century. Doubtless. No one would be surprised by this. > In fact if you delve into it, there are a number of legends passed down from the indigenous peoples describing huge fires and unbelievable rain storms that flooded the whole of the central valley. Huge fires are clearly things that can happen in California. Rain storms flooding the whole Central Valley aren’t as extreme as, say, over-a-month rain storms producing flooding everywhere on earth, as legends go, but have similar plausibility problems in that (1) they would leave material evidence which would have been found, and (2) the very same absence of a large-scale community with detailed records and communications that lets you say “the West Coast US has basically no historical record” means that the source of any such legend would necessarily have to be really free extrapolation from a much narrower observation.