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Floods and Climate change

Organization(s):Colegio French
Country:Argentina
Student(s):Martina Lucey and Caterina Tovar
Grade Level:Secondary School (grades 9-12, ages 14-18)
GLOBE Educator(s):Emiliano Basic
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Date Submitted:04/26/2013
Screen capture from presentation
Our research question is if floods in the city of La Plata during last April are related to climate change. In order to do that we analyzed statistics about precipitations in Buenos Aires province, in which territory La Plata is located. We found that, opposite to what we thought, there was not an increase of precipitations in the area in the last 20 years. We did not have enough information to answer the research question.



Comments

It is interesting to know that recent heavy rains on a particulr day got you interested in finding out what may have caused it.
What were the limitations to your data?
Does the National Weather Service, Buenos Aires Weather Station has data for period prior to 1991, for another 20 or 30 years?
Hi Anil, it was very difficult for us to find information about rain statistics. The National Weather service has data for the period before 1991, since 1964, but we had no access to it through the internet.
Is there any additional data that you would have like to have had to support your research question? How could you continue this research to support your research question?
Hi Jessica, we are Martina and Caterina. The information we would like to have had is specific statistics about precipitations in La Plata. To continue with the research, we should take measures of precipitations in the area during a longer period of time.
I hope you will take measurements of precipitation - I would love to see your data!
Did you consider writing to the National Weather Service to get their earlier data?

The flooding came from an intense rainfall in a short period of time. Could you find any data on other intense storms and the extent of the flooding that resulted in La Plata?