[ad_1]
Rapid climate change, which is causing warming of the tropical oceans, could lead to a substantial increase in the frequency of extreme rain storms by the end of the century, NASA scientists said.
The study team, led by Hartmut Aumann of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, found that extreme storms – those producing at least 3 millimeters of rain per hour over an area of 25 kilometers – were formed when the temperature of the sea surface was greater than about 28 degrees Celsius.
They also found that 21% more storms are formed for each degree Celsius increase in temperature at the ocean surface.
Currently accepted climate models predict that with a constant increase in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere (1% per year), tropical ocean surface temperatures could increase by 2.7 degrees Celsius. here the end of the century.
If this happens, one would expect the frequency of extreme storms to increase to 60% at that time, the researchers explained.
Although climate models are not perfect, such results can serve as guidelines for those looking to prepare for the potential effects of climate change.
"Our results quantify and give a more visual sense of the consequences of the predicted warming of the oceans," said Aumann.
"More storms mean more floods, more damage to the structure, more damage to crops, etc., unless mitigation measures are put in place."
For the study, published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, the team reviewed 15 years of data acquired by NASA's Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument on tropical oceans to determine the link between average temperature of the sea surface and the onset of storms.
–IANS
rt / soni /
(This story has not been changed by Business Standard staff and is generated automatically from a syndicated feed.)
[ad_2]
Source link
