A recent study has revealed an increase in the severity of extreme weather events such as storms and hurricanes, considering that rising global temperatures play a pivotal role in this change.
The researchers reported that global warming leads to an increase in the variability of weather patterns, after studying historical meteorological data that shows significant changes in rainfall on a large scale.
The study, published in the journal “Science”, showed that about 75% of the planet’s land area witnessed increasing fluctuations in rainfall, accompanied by longer periods of drought and heavier rains.
Many regions around the world were affected by these phenomena, as the most powerful hurricane this year hit areas in Taiwan, the Philippines and then China, resulting in the closure of schools, businesses and financial markets, and hundreds of thousands were evacuated in anticipation of the worst.
Stephen Sherwood, a scientist at the Climate Change Research Centre at the University of New South Wales, explained that the increase in the percentage of water vapor in the atmosphere is the main driver of these changes, making tropical storms less frequent but more powerful.
Sherwood noted that the world is heading towards an increase in extreme hydrological events such as droughts and floods due to continued global warming.
Scientists confirm that changes in the behavior of storms and hurricanes are part of a broader phenomenon of extreme weather events that directly affect life and require integrated responses to meet future climate challenges.
The average surface temperature of the Earth has risen by about 1.54 degrees Celsius since the pre-industrial period (1850-1900), but since 1901 the temperature has risen at a rate of 0.17 degrees Fahrenheit (0.094 degrees Celsius) per decade, and since the beginning of 1980 this rate has accelerated to 0.20 degrees Celsius per decade, and 2023 was the hottest year on record since the Earth’s temperature data began.
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