title: How much more rain will global warming bring?
abstract: Climate models and satellite observations both indicate that the total amount of water in the atmosphere will increase at a rate of 7% per kelvin of surface warming. However, the climate models predict that global precipitation will increase at a much slower rate of 1 to 3% per kelvin. A recent analysis of satellite observations does not support this prediction of a muted response of precipitation to global warming. Rather, the observations suggest that precipitation and total atmospheric water have increased at about the same rate over the past two decades.
authors.affiliation: Remote Sensing Systems, 438 First Street, Santa Rosa, CA 95401, USA. frank.wentz@remss.com
authors.forename: Frank J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Wentz
authors.forename: Lucrezia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ricciardulli
authors.forename: Kyle
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hilburn
authors.forename: Carl
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Mears