Flooding, Drought, and Wildfires to Worsen as Global Heating Disturbs the Planet's Water Cycle

Water-related problems - drought, with wildfires following the drought, and flooding - will possibly worsen all over the world as the breakdown of climate takes hold, as per the biggest assessment of climate science to date.

(Photo : Getty Images)

Global Heating  

As per the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, global heating of not less than 1.5C could possibly take place within the coming two decades.

Great changes in the water cycle of the planet will accompany temperature rises, with regions that are already soaked with water becoming much wetter, and already dried places becoming susceptible to more severe drought. The report discovered that for each additional 1C of global heating, severe rainfall intensifies by 7%.

A science leader at the British Antarctic Survey and also a lead author for the IPCC, Prof Mike Meredith, said: "As the atmosphere continues to heat up because of global heating, it can hold and transport more moisture - so at the largest scale we expect to see an acceleration of the hydrological cycle: stronger evaporation in the tropics, and more intense rainfall in the high latitudes and some equatorial regions. This will lead to more frequent extreme rainfall events in already wet areas, and a greater incidence and severity of flooding."

Mike also said there is already powerful proof that scientists are noticing such changes. 

Also Read: Earth's Vital Signs are Worsening and Many are Not Paying Attention

Drought 

In some arid regions, droughts will worsen and last for a longer time. These type of risks are aggravated by knock-on results, like a higher risk of wildfires, that is been noticed.

Co-director of the Grantham Institute on Climate Change at Imperial College London whose name is Prof Ralf Toumi said the proposition of a warmer world is that additional water will be vaporized, and this will aggravate droughts, and intensified water in the atmosphere will boost the amount of rain fall occurs.

The effects will be noticed all over the world, from the US, a place drought is a rising problem in the south and west, to India, a place the monsoon coils possibly become more changeable. There is a possibility Sub-Saharan Africa will also experience increased drought in many regions, while China and Europe will experience flooding and drought.

(Photo : Getty Images)

Impacts of the Climate Crisis 

One of the greatest impacts of the climate crisis is changes to the natural rainfall patterns of the planet and the landmark IPCC report, released last week, contains over 200 pages on just this issue. 

A more comprehensive discussion of the anticipated impacts of the climate crisis on water will be ready next February, in part two of the report which is the sixth from the world authority on climate science since 1988.

But so far the findings have the clearest warnings yet of the issues the world is facing. The IPCC was watchful on the possible impacts on monsoons, with some studies highlighting a possible weakening and some to a build up. 

Related Article: Satellite Data Shows How Clouds Actually Worsen Global Heating

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