From deluges to drought: climate change speeds up water cycle, triggers more extreme weather
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Around the globe, hotter temperatures stoked by climate change are increasing the odds of both severe drought and heavier precipitation that can wreak havoc on people and the environment.
By Tammy Webber and Donavon Brutus
Prolonged droughts, wildfires and water shortages. Torrential downpours that overwhelm dams and cause catastrophic flooding.
Around the globe, rising temperatures stoked by climate change are increasing the odds of both severe drought and heavier precipitation that wreak havoc on people and the environment.
Rainfall can disappear for years only to return with a vengeance, as it did in California in 2023, with record-setting rain and snowfall. That led to heavy vegetation growth that provided fuel for the devastating January wildfires in Los Angeles after drought returned.
But how can global warming cause both drier and wetter extremes? Here’s what experts say.
It’s all about the water cycle
Water constantly moves between the Earth and its atmosphere. But that syst...
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