Simple physics or chemistry shows that warm air can absorb more water than cooler air, so global warming should mean more rain rather than less as the total net moisture in the air should be more and therefore more precipitation.
2007-12-07 16:48:37 · 6 answers · asked by grandview55 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Earth Sciences & Geology
El Nineo was a warming effect in the ocean, and it caused more rain in California than average. So I would expect a lots of ocean warming to create more rain in California, yet droughts are forecast. I don't think it all can be blamed on weather patterns.
2007-12-07 17:02:10 · update #1
The drying effect is the act of putting more moisture in the air. And over an ocean, it means more moisture in the air and more rain when it hits land. True, more moisture in the air means more latent energy, and possibly more hurricanes but I don't think two years can prove a point.
2007-12-07 17:13:14 · update #2
the prediction is that the rain will fall in greater amounts in one place and much less in others. so there will be droughts in one area and floods in another. both are disasters.
2007-12-08 15:34:28 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
That is why the "theory" of global warming falls short. The devil is in the details. Clouds are made from particles in the air (pollution / natural or man made)) and water vapor. If the world is getting warmer then there should be more precipitation. Now this would be expected in areas that already get rain but with warmer temperatures we should see more Hurricanes right? Well over the last 2 years, post Katrina, we have had only two low level category 1 Hurricanes hit the US mainland. Hmm....seems like this whole "end of the world idea" may be incorrect. Maybe in 20 years the "expert" scientists will detect another ice age like they did in the 1980s.
2007-12-07 17:03:12 · answer #2 · answered by badbender001 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
It's well known that humans cause desertification by removing vegetation. If we are accelerating the amount of carbon we put into the atmosphere at the same time we are accelerating the removal of the carbon sink, that's an obvious problem. This isn't about environmental alarmism - It's common sense. My opinion? I think in the years to come, as the science and the models mature, there will be many more postitive and negative feedbacks found. So, we should just shrug it off, continue business as usual, and let the chips fall? That's taking on a lot of risk.
2016-04-08 01:05:31 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I am not sure that global warming will cause more droughts, at least not globally. I always understood that the ice age involved a dryer climate because the glacial masses produced large cold and dry high pressure systems that reduced precipitation, at least in northern and temperate regions.
2007-12-07 18:42:36 · answer #4 · answered by busterwasmycat 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Basically, what global warming will tend to DO- is enhance precipitation extremes as the Planet warms up. Things dry out faster as temperatures rise- so droughts may get LONGER & be WORSE when they DO occur....-While Storms & floods may get WORSE when THEY occur... We may actually swing from one exteme to the next- drying up & blowing away one decade- only to drown in the next! The MORE heat energy we pump into our Atmosphere- the more Dynamic our Climate will become... :(
2007-12-07 17:05:59 · answer #5 · answered by Joseph, II 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
In some places, yes. Drought will be caused by changes in weather patterns. Places that get rain will not and places that don't will.
2007-12-07 16:54:44 · answer #6 · answered by Lady Geologist 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋