How does climate change affect your gutters?

Climate change is scientifically proven to affect every aspect of our planet’s ecosystem, and this includes the water cycle. Climate change increases our risk of experiencing both heavy rains, and extreme droughts. Because precipitation is highly dependent on temperature, changes in it have major consequences on the water cycle.

Global temperatures are continuing to see a steady increase at a fast rate. This is directly affecting water vapor concentrations, clouds, precipitation patterns, and stream flow patterns. These are all are related to the water cycle.

Water & Your Gutters

The water cycle consists of water evaporating from the land and sea which eventually comes back to earth as rain and/or snow. As temperatures increase, more evaporation takes place because warmer air can hold more moisture. The more moisture and vapor the air holds, the higher the chances of saturation and extremely heavy rainfalls. As we’ve seen this season, intense downpours like these can cause issues like flooding, flash flooding, and storm damage.

Downspouts & Their Role

These types of downpours are often quick and ferocious. They drop enough water to do some serious damage. Saturating downpours can affect your gutters in multiple ways:

It is important to have a gutter system that is working properly and that it is the proper size. Appropriately controlling these mass quantities of rain is extremely important in protecting your home.

Temperature Predictions

Models of climate change predict that the U.S. annual-mean temperatures will generally rise about 2-3 degrees C over the next 100 years. This also is leading to an overall rise in precipitation levels. Over the 20th century, precipitation in the U.S. increased by 5-10%, and this is predicated to continue.

The other side of the water cycle is the area experiencing drought. As temperatures rise, evaporation increases and soil dries. In these cases, a lot of the runoff grazes over the hard ground and into bodies of water, leaving the soil dry and further contributing to drought.

Decreased evaporation rates that lead to drought also leads to a limited supply of water. Because of the decreasing water supply, you may also want to think about a rain harvesting system. A rain barrel, or underground drainage system can harvest the rain water that comes from your gutters. This can then be used for drinking (if filtered), and other water needs around the home.

If you have been noticing during recent heavy storms that your gutters aren’t performing as they should, now is the time to address these problems. As precipitation and temperatures are predicted to steadily increase over the next 100 years, preparation is important. Water damages can be costly and extremely time consuming. Contact The Brothers that just do Gutters today for your free gutter estimate, and make sure your gutter system is ready to handle the storms associated with climate change!