Subscribe free to our newsletters via your
. Solar Energy News .




WATER WORLD
Warmer Earth will have less rain, not more: study
by Staff Writers
Paris (AFP) Jan 30, 2013


Climate scientists said Wednesday they found evidence to back predictions for a future with lower average rainfall, even though Earth's past warming episodes had led to more precipitation, not less.

Writing in the journal Nature, researchers said they had found proof that global warming caused by Man's greenhouse-gas emissions has a different effect on rainfall than warming caused by increased solar radiation.

Warming induced by carbon emissions is expected to accompany a rise in droughts in the future, they said.

This runs contrary to experience during the so-called Medieval Warm Period, from 1000 to 1250 AD, when Earth was hotter than today as a result of solar heating -- but also wetter.

Scientists have long battled to understand the apparent contradiction.

Now they have shown that the two causes induce warming in different regions of the atmosphere, with different outcomes for rainfall formation.

The introduction of heat-absorbing greenhouse gases leads to a narrowing of the usual temperature difference between different layers of the atmosphere -- thus a more stable atmosphere that is less conducive to rain, said the report.

"For the same increase in temperature, solar heating will induce an overall higher level of rainfall than greenhouse gases," said a Nature press statement.

"Less rainfall (under the greenhouse-gas warming scenario) means on average increasing chances for droughts," said co-author Bin Wang of the University of Hawaii's International Pacific Research Center.

Solar radiation can be affected by factors like volcanic activity, the level of aerosols in the atmosphere and changes in the Earth's orbit around the Sun.

The study says the estimates for future rainfall are a global average, and do not apply to what is expected to happen locally.

Previous research has pointed to risks of regional flooding or water stress as climate change alters traditional winds and the amount of moisture they pick up at sea.

.


Related Links
Water News - Science, Technology and Politics






Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle








WATER WORLD
Old drainage ditches sleeping threat to Cape Cod salt marshes
Cape Cod MA (SPX) Jan 29, 2013
CAPE Cod, Massachusetts has a problem. The iconic salt marshes of the famous summer retreat are melting away at the edges, dying back from the most popular recreational areas. The erosion is a consequence of an unexpected synergy between recreational over-fishing and Great Depression-era ditches constructed by Works Progress Administration (WPA) in an effort to control mosquitoes. The casc ... read more


WATER WORLD
Marginal Lands Are Prime Fuel Source for Alternative Energy

Wind in the willows boosts biofuel production

Fuel Choices and How They Affect Car Insurance

US Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack visits Renmatix for commissioning of plant to sugar BioFlex Conversion Unit

WATER WORLD
Engineers Building Hard-working Mining Robot

Robofish Grace glides with the greatest of ease

Nexter joins robot development business

Game on: European student codes reach ISS

WATER WORLD
Japan plans world's largest wind farm

China revs up wind power amid challenges

Algonquin Power Buys 109 MW Shady Oaks Wind Power Facility

British group pans wind farm compensation

WATER WORLD
Never get stressed searching for a parking space again

Honda nine-month net profit doubles to $3.2 bn

Japan's top three automakers post record 2012 sales

Motion Control Keeps Electric Car's Four Wheels on the Road

WATER WORLD
Argentina pushes Falklands claim in EU

China's coal consumption continues to soar

Chevron gets permit to explore shale gas in Romania

Iran seeks to salvage gas pipeline deal

WATER WORLD
Blow to Britain's nuclear waste plans

Bulgaria nuclear referendum fails: official

French government backs ex-Areva boss to head EADS: report

Bulgaria nuclear referendum set to fail

WATER WORLD
Latest Ways to Make Your Business Energy Efficient

China coal plant shut by health chiefs

Keeping the lights on with renewables

Czech PM slams Albania grid decision

WATER WORLD
New research will help shed light on role of Amazon forests in global carbon cycle

Dartmouth research offers new control strategies for bipolar bark beetles

Brazil to inventory Amazon rainforest trees

Civilians fell rare Syrian trees for firewood




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2014 - Space Media Network. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement