Sentences with phrase «causes of precipitation extremes»

Not exact matches

They're intense plumes of water vapor that cause extreme precipitation, plumes so large they resemble rivers in satellite pictures.

Climate scientists know that the intensity of extreme precipitation events is on the rise because there's more water vapor in the atmosphere caused by higher global and sea temperatures.

As the 2014 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report notes, models predict that increasing temperature ought to cause greater precipitation extremes in both directions — both drought and flooding, though there are likely more areas of heavy precipitation.

Her work focuses on the causes of change in mean and extreme temperature and precipitation.

Changes in precipitation regimes and extreme events can cause ecosystem transitions, increase transport of nutrients and pollutants to downstream ecosystems, and overwhelm the ability of natural systems to mitigate harm to people from these events.

«The North American monsoon is also related to extreme precipitation events that can cause flash floods and loss of life,» Kapnick said.

For example, extreme storms often cause extreme soil erosion, and the substitution of pumped groundwater for lost precipitation can lead to a permanent loss of arable land due to salinization of soil and land subsidence, and (as indicated above) permanent loss of aquifer storage capacity.

«Even though California historically has periods of dry and wet years, there isn't an analog for climate extremes like the ones we've observed in recent years, such as those record - breaking prolonged periods of drought following by periods of intense precipitation pulses that cause flooding,» Woodburn said.

Whether precipitation falls as rain or snow, these extremes can heighten the risk of flood, and cause economic and social disruptions for communities unprepared to cope.

For example, a recent study on the severe flooding in England in the winter of 2013/14 found that as well as increasing the amount of moisture the atmosphere can hold, human - caused warming had slightly increased the number of January days with the type of wind patterns that favour extreme precipitation.