Scientists can now see the big picture on water globally — which areas are repeatedly drying and which are getting hammered by extra-strong rainstorms, thanks to new analysis of satellite data
FILE - People travel by boat in a flooded street in Trizidela do Vale, state of Maranhao, Brazil, May 9, 2009. The intensity of extreme drought and rainfall has “sharply” increased over the past 20 years, according to a study published Monday, March 13, 2023, in the journal Nature Water. The intensity of extreme drought and rainfall has"sharply" increased over the past 20 years, according to a study published Monday in the journal Nature Water.
The researchers say the data confirms that both frequency and intensity of rainfall and droughts are increasing due to“I was surprised to see how well correlated the global intensity was with global mean temperatures,” said Matthew Rodell, study author and deputy director of Earth sciences for hydrosphere, biosphere, and geophysics at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.
That showed the most extreme rains keep happening in sub-Saharan Africa, at least through December 2021, the end of the data. The rainfall extremes also took place in central and eastern North America from 2018-2021, and Australia during 2011-2012. A warmer atmosphere increases the rate at which water evaporates during dry periods. It also holds more water vapor, which fuels heavy rainfall events.
Seager said it's a mistake to assume that future wet and dry extremes can be managed the same as in the past because “everything’s going to get amplified on both ends of the dry-wet spectrum.”
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