More and more rainfall extremes are observed in regions around the globe – triggering both wet and dry records, a new study shows.
Yet there are big differences between regions: The central and Eastern US, northern Europe and northern Asia have experienced heavy rainfall events that have led to severe floods in recent past. In contrast, most African regions have seen an increased frequency of months with a lack of rain. The study is the first to systematically analyze and quantify changes in record-breaking monthly rainfall events from all over the globe, based on data from roughly 50,000 weather stations worldwide. Climate change from fossil fuel greenhouse gases has long been expected to disturb rainfall patterns.
“We took a close look at observed monthly rainfall data - if it's not just a few days but several weeks that are record wet, this can accumulate over time and lead to large river floods, or to droughts if it is record dry,“ says lead author Jascha Lehman from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK). The impacts on people's livelihoods in the affected regions can be huge, ranging from flooded houses to endangered food security due to large-scale agricultural losses.
Continue reading at Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research
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