IPCC report: Why climate change is causing more severe storms and floods

August 10, 2021 15:28 PM | Reading time: 3 minutes
August 10, 2021 15:28 PM
| Reading time: 3 minutes

If you only have a few seconds, read these lines:

  • The IPCC report warns that the water cycle has intensified and will continue to intensify as the planet warms.
  • An increase in both wet extremes, with heavy rains in most areas, and extreme droughts, such as droughts in the Mediterranean, southwestern Australia, southwestern South America, southern Africa, and western North America, has been documented.
  • The study notes that limiting global warming to the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C target will require immediate, rapid and large-scale reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.

In July 2021, the world watched as torrential rain turned into floods that washed away centuries-old homes in Europe, caused landslides in Asia and inundated subways in China. more than 900 people died in destruction. In North America, the West has been battling fires amid severe drought affecting supplies Water NS energy.

Water related hazards can be very devastatingThe impact of climate change on water-related extreme events such as these is increasingly evident.

In the Assessment of the new international climate just posted, The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warns that the water cycle has intensified and will continue to intensify as the planet warms.

The report you worked on Primary author, documents a Increase in both extreme wet conditions, with heavy rains in most areas, and extreme droughts, such as droughts in the Mediterranean, southwestern Australia, southwestern South America, southern Africa, and western North America. It also shows that both wet and dry extremes will continue to increase with future warming.

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Why does the water cycle condense?

Water circulates through the environment, moving between the atmosphere, oceans, land and glacial sediments. It can fall as rain or snow, seep into the ground, flow into a river, join the ocean, freeze, or evaporate back into the atmosphere. Plants also take in water from the soil and release it through the sweating of their leaves. In recent decades, there has been a general increase in precipitation and evaporation rates.

There are several factors that intensify the water cycle, but the most important of them is that rising temperatures raise the upper limit for the amount of moisture in the air. This increases the chance of more precipitation.

This aspect of climate change is confirmed by All our guides: That’s what’s expected from basic physics, what computer models project, and it actually shows up in observational data as a general increase in precipitation intensity as temperatures rise.

Understanding this and other change in the water cycle is important for more than just disaster preparedness. Water is an essential resource for all ecosystems and human societies, particularly for agriculture.

What does this mean for the future?

The intensification of the water cycle means that both wet and dry extremes and total water cycle variability will increase, though not uniformly across the planet.

Precipitation is expected to be intense Increase in most of the land area, but the largest increase in drought is expected in the Mediterranean, southwestern South America, and western North America.

Globally, intense daily precipitation is likely to increase by 7% per degree Celsius The global temperature is increasing.

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According to the report, in addition to extreme events, many other important aspects of the water cycle will also change, such as Reduction of mountain glaciers, reduced duration of seasonal snow cover, early melting and contrasting changes in monsoon rains in different regions, which will affect the water resources of billions of people.

What can he do?

This is the common theme of all these aspects of the water cycle An increase in greenhouse gas emissions leads to greater impacts.

The IPCC does not make policy recommendations. Instead, it provides the scientific information needed to carefully evaluate policy options. The results show what are the implications of the different options.

One of the things that Scientific evidence from the report He clearly says to world leaders is that Limiting global warming to the Paris Agreement target of 1.5 will require immediate, rapid, and widespread reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.

Regardless of any target set, it is clear that the severity of the effects of climate change is closely related to greenhouse gas emissions – reducing emissions will reduce impacts. Every part of the degree is important.

This note posted Originally by conversation.

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