In recent years, extreme weather phenomena have hit the world so violently that one meteorological term, Atmosphere Rivers — has leapt from the scientific community into a common language, especially in places that have been hit by them.
That makes sense.
Heavy rain and wind events, best known for absorbing California and other parts of the West, have become bigger, wet and more frequent over the past 45 years as the world warms.
Atmospheric rivers are long and relatively narrow bands of steam. They take water from the sea and flow through the air and rain falls. They have been soaked 6-9% since 1980, with a 2-6% increase in frequency, increasing in areas slightly wet than before, the study said.
Scientists have long predicted that climate change, oil and gas from burning coal will warm the air and will retain more moisture. This week’s survey shows that a wetier future is already here.
“This doesn’t mean it’s necessarily everything because of climate change. We didn’t study it, but broadly speaking, it’s lined up with some expectations about how (atmosphere rivers) change in a warm atmosphere,” says Lexi Henny, an atmospheric scientist at the University of North Carolina who did the research at NASA.
In a warm world of the future, what has already happened is “still small compared to the changes we think will happen,” Henny said.
Atmospheric rivers can bring the necessary rain to drought-hit areas, but if they are strong and long-lasting, they are often dangerous. Just a year ago, a series of atmospheric rivers caused hundreds of landslides, killing several people in California. In the 1860s, California had to move its capital out of Sacramento due to flooding of atmospheric rivers.
These events aren’t just from California. They actually happen in the US and around the world, but sometimes they are not recognized as atmospheric rivers, Henry said. In 2023, New England’s Atmospheric River brought rain and 50 miles of wind. In 2020, Ati River dumped 99 inches of snow in Alaska.
Not only does the paper make sense, but Christine Shields, a water scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research, who is not involved in the research, says it is rich in new details and data that will help researchers understand what happens with these heavy rain and snow attacks.
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