Tropical Rains and Downpours Worsening, say scientists
Pastor Dale Morgan
*Tropical Rains and Downpours Worsening, say scientists*
07 Aug 2008 18:00:03 GMT
Source: Reuters
By Alister Doyle, Environment Correspondent
OSLO, Aug 7 (Reuters) - Tropical downpours are becoming more frequent
and the trend seems worse than expected, bringing greater risks of flash
floods, scientists said on Thursday.
"As the tropics warm are are seeing an increased frequency in the
heaviest rainfall," said Richard Allan of the University of Reading in
England, who co-authored a study of tropical rains with Brian Soden of
the University of Miami.
The satellite review of tropical rainstorms since the 1980s gave the
first observational evidence to confirm computer models that predict
more intense cloudbursts because of global warming stoked by human
activities, they said.
Writing in the journal Science, they also said the trend to extreme
soakings was stronger than predicted by computer models "implying that
projections of future changes in rainfall extremes ... may be
underestimated".
The findings were based on a study of the tropical oceans, where
satellites can more easily record rainfall. Allan said the trends were
likely to be matched over land.
The U.N. Panel predicts more rain overall this century in many parts of
the tropics and towards the polar areas with declines in middle
latitudes such as the Mediterranean basin, the Western United States and
southern Africa.
-- For latest Reuters environment blogs click on:
http://blogs.reuters.com/environment/ (Editing by Andrew Roche)