Climate change is increasingly influencing global rainfall patterns and intensifying tropical storms, according to a study published on Friday. The paper highlights how rising temperatures are driving significant shifts in weather extremes, including stronger and more variable precipitation events.
This week, the year’s most powerful typhoon struck Taiwan, the Philippines, and China, with wind speeds reaching up to 227 kph (141 mph). The typhoon prompted evacuations and disruptions across the affected regions, illustrating the growing impact of such storms.
Research led by Zhang Wenxia from the China Academy of Sciences reveals that about 75% of the world’s land area has experienced increased “precipitation variability,” leading to more extreme wet and dry periods. The study, published in the journal Science, attributes this to warmer temperatures enhancing the atmosphere’s moisture-holding capacity.
Steven Sherwood from the Climate Change Research Centre at the University of New South Wales, who was not involved in the study, noted that this increased variability is likely to result in more frequent droughts and floods. “This is going to increase as global warming continues,” he said.
Fewer but More Intense Tropical Storms
The study also suggests that climate change is affecting the frequency and intensity of tropical storms. Although the overall number of storms may decrease, their strength is expected to increase. Higher atmospheric water vapor is believed to be a key factor driving these trends.
Typhoon Gaemi, which made landfall in Taiwan on Wednesday, was the strongest to hit the island in eight years. While individual weather events cannot be solely attributed to climate change, models predict that warming temperatures contribute to stronger storms, according to Sachie Kanada from Nagoya University in Japan.
China’s recent “blue paper” on climate change notes a decline in the number of typhoons in the Northwest Pacific and South China Sea since the 1990s, but highlights an increase in their intensity. Similarly, Taiwan’s climate change report suggests that while the number of typhoons may decrease, each storm will be more intense.
Feng Xiangbo, a tropical cyclone research scientist at the University of Reading, explains that uneven ocean warming is contributing to these changes. With each 1 degree Celsius rise in temperature, water vapor capacity in the lower atmosphere is expected to increase by 7%, leading to a potential 40% surge in tropical cyclone rainfall in the United States.
