GRL/Northwestern U Study: Global Warming Is Intensifying Rainfall In Every Part Of The US

[hatrack]

A paper published Tuesday in the journal Geophysical Research Letters finds that it’s raining harder in most of the United States. The study, written by researchers at Northwestern University, tied the results to climate change and to warmer air’s ability to hold more water. The findings echo the fundamental laws of physics and thermodynamics, as well as the evidence from decades of research, and highlight the real-time effect that humans are having on the weather and climate.

The research offers confirmation of what atmospheric scientists have been warning of for years: a warmer world is, on balance, a wetter world. And as global temperatures continue to rise, an uptick in precipitation extremes is expected.

What the study finds is consistent with a basic tenet of atmospheric physics: For every degree Fahrenheit that air temperature rises, the atmosphere can hold 4 percent more water; this is known as the Clausius-Clapeyron relationship. Where storm clouds develop and the atmosphere is sufficiently moist, it means a warmer climate will support more intense rainfall.

The study reports “consistent shifts from lower to higher daily precipitation intensities, particularly in the central and eastern United States.” The authors compared rainfall over two periods — 1951 to 1980 and 1991 to 2020 — to see how patterns evolved. “When it’s raining, it’s raining more,” said Ryan Harp, the author lead author on the study, in an interview. “But what we also did was … we were able to verify some of the expectations we had based on modeling studies.”

EDOWhat the study finds is consistent with a basic tenet of atmospheric physics: For every degree Fahrenheit that air temperature rises, the atmosphere can hold 4 percent more water; this is known as the Clausius-Clapeyron relationship. Where storm clouds develop and the atmosphere is sufficiently moist, it means a warmer climate will support more intense rainfall.

The study reports “consistent shifts from lower to higher daily precipitation intensities, particularly in the central and eastern United States.” The authors compared rainfall over two periods — 1951 to 1980 and 1991 to 2020 — to see how patterns evolved.

“When it’s raining, it’s raining more,” said Ryan Harp, the author lead author on the study, in an interview. “But what we also did was … we were able to verify some of the expectations we had based on modeling studies.”

EDIT

https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2022/10/11/rain-increasing-climate-change-us/

[onecaliberal]

1. It rained a total of 3 times in 12 months here.

Barely a blip.

[jimfields33]

3. This is balony.

They forgot to look at the west clearly. Even in Florida where it rains every day, it hasn’t rained in three weeks since the hurricane. Not even a drop. And hurricanes do not cause rain to stop a few days later that’s for sure.

[calguy]

2. We had one of the driest summers I can remember here in Arkansas

My bass pond has only been this low once since I built it fifteen years ago.
Sure would be nice to get one of those soaking rainfalls soon.