Why more intense bursts of rain are making the planet drier
Researchers found that concentrated downpours can leave less water on land, with 27% of the world’s population facing abnormally dry conditions at 2°C warming.
- A new study published Wednesday in Nature by Dartmouth College and Université du Québec à Montréal researchers finds that concentrated rainfall reduces land water storage, as intense storms overwhelm soil and limit moisture retention.
- Using a Gini coefficient scale to measure how rainfall shifts from steady drizzles to intense downpours, Justin Mankin, a climate scientist at Dartmouth, explained that forcing land to absorb intense rain is like 'drinking from a firehose,' increasing runoff.
- Warming by 2 degrees Celsius—up from the current 1.3 degrees Celsius rise since industrialization—could force 27% of the human population into 'abnormally dry conditions,' threatening major river basins including the Amazon, Nile, Mississippi, Ganges, and Yangtze.
- This shift creates a 'new mode of volatility' that makes water cycles harder to predict, Corey Lesk, a professor at the Université du Québec à Montréal, explained, leading to more frequent 'flash' droughts and flooding.
- While New England and southern Quebec expect more rain, it will arrive in larger, more intense storms rather than frequent increments, necessitating deeper wells and infrastructure adaptations as the land's ability to store water declines.
12 Articles
12 Articles
Dartmouth researchers find rain in New England is consolidating into bigger storms amid climate change
The northeastern United States and southern Quebec are expected to see more rain due to climate change, but more of that rain will likely fall in large storms like the ones that have caused flooding in recent years, according to new research. This trend is leading to more flooding and more frequent “flash” droughts between storms.
A study published in the journal Nature reveals a worrying phenomenon, which warns that intense rains can cause adverse effects on the total rainfall that ends up accumulating in dreams, rivers and aquifers. According to the explanation, intense rains with prolonged time apart can cause droughts. Why do strong storms not relieve drought? When it rains moderately and frequently, water has time to infiltrate the soil, recharge aquifers and be avai…
As if it were an irony, a recent study assured that the rains bring droughts, an effect completely contrary to what one would think, since there is less water available. Here the details. Why the rains would cause droughts? According to the magazine 'Nature', the storms that have been recorded in recent years have brought an effect contrary to what would be thought, this as a result of global warming, which has increased the average temperature …
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