None of that is true.
They've always been atmospheric rivers, and the STATES have a numbering system. WE do not nor are we close to having one. If all you watch is the weather man on tv they tend to refer to it as a pineapple express and in MOST cases historically they have been. All pineapple expresses are atmospheric rivers, not all atmospheric rivers are pineapple expresses. The one that clobbered us hardest last year was not. The term has been used in meterology for years.
Check this out:
Learn more about these rivers in the sky
www.noaa.gov
Last updated 2015.
Your lack of awareness is not the same as fact. The term is decades old. That's WHY the US has a numbering system for it.
you really were. If you're saying otherwise now then you're backpedaling
This isn't complex. There is a normal range of weather that represents the vast majority of the weather in any area. Then there are extreme events which exceed that and are unusual or rare. What has been happening is those extreme events are becoming far MORE extreme and outside the normal, and somewhat more frequent. This has been predicted as likely for a few years now and the evidence is strong it's an issue. We have had THREE very extreme events in a year, all of which vastly exceeded previous examples.
My statement was simple - given that we would be wise to take a few extra precautions. Doesn't have to be crazy - but maybe improving our water resivours or our drainage systems or making sure all new buildings are plumbed for AC (most are now anyway and it's easy to do) and educating people and the like. Taking steps to prepare for floods and wash outs of our major transport routes, etc.
If you think that's such a horrible idea then fine. Hell there's lots of people without house insurance because they feel they don't need it. I think it's a good idea. but you may not. But lets not pretend that we haven't had extreme weather or that there's not likely to be more in our near future.