The atmosphere is thirsty. A new study found that warming leads to more frequent hot and dry weather, causing soil to lose a large amount of water due to evaporation.
Researchers say the growing number of “thirst” is a challenge for farmers. “As these pressures increase, there is less and less room for irrigation speculation, so if water conditions are limited, we have to do a better job of actually tracking the water.” The author of lead said Meetpal Kukal, University of Idaho.
Researchers define “thirst” over three days of unusually high “evaporative demand.” This means that in a hot, dry, sunny state, the atmosphere draws more water from plants, soil and waterways.
For new research, researchers analyzed 40 years of thirst across the United States. Since 1980, thirst waves have been 7% longer, 17% stronger, 23% have increased frequently, and it has been found to be increasingly occurring during the growing season.
studyIt is published in The future of the earthcontinues to a Recent papers in Nature review It compared the atmosphere to a giant sponge. As the planet warms, the sponge grows larger, absorbs more moisture, leads to serious drought, releases more water, and leads to heavy rainfall. This results in a sharp swing from dry to wet.
The effect is global, the authors found. The weather “whipping”, The author of lead said “It may turn out to be one of the more universal global changes on a warm planet,” said Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at UCLA.
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