How Regional Wind Patterns Will Impact Climate Change

The effects of global warming cause wet regions to get wetter and the dry regions get drier, according to most climatologists. This resulted to more rains in humid tropics. On the other hand, in a new study, it implies that the relationship between global warming and precipitation patterns is not that forthright.

The study was printed in Geophysical Research Letters on May 14, 2016. It was led by Robert C. Wills, Michael P. Byrne and Tapio Schneider.

The study involved data from 23 models in the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 5 from historical simulations (1976-2005) and simulations of the climate at the end of the century (2070-2099). It is assumed that the simulations at the end of a century, the greenhouse gasses will continue to rise. They have used these data to analyze how the regional wind patterns will influence the climate change.

The researchers examined the changes in net precipitation (precipitation minus evaporation) in the wet regions. These include the East Asian and South Asian monsoon regions and the South Pacific Convergence Zone and in the dry regions like the Mediterranean, the eastern equatorial Pacific and the boreal forests.

The results of the analysis revealed that the changes in persistent wind patterns can lead to big changes in net precipitation. This can overcome the "wet gets wetter, dry gets drier" reaction, according to EOS.

The researchers also discovered that contrasts in net precipitation between regions heighten by 2 percent to 5 percent with each 1 degree Celsius warming of global temperature. The changes in stationary eddy circulations---wind patterns due to the presence of continents and warm ocean regions-control regional precipitation changes. The transient eddies is also an important factor on precipitation changes.

These change in the atmospheric circulation is an indication of overcoming the wet gets wetter, dry get drier paradigm by introducing regional differences. The findings of the study imply that it is significant to comprehend how stationary eddies will change in the future. This includes predicting precisely how the precipitation in various regions will respond to climate change.