Emily's Global Climate Change Scrapbook

Changes in Precipitation

- Global climate change will have profound a effect on precipitation world wide.

- Scientists anticipate that the amount of precipitation per year will increase, as the warmer the atmosphere becomes, the more water vapor it holds. However, they say that this increase will vary from region to region.

- At high latitudes levels of precipitation are expected to increase, while at low latitudes it is expected to decrease. Thus, the gap between areas with abundant water and areas with scarce water will worsen.

- Precipitation in the United States alone has increased between 5% and 10% since the turn of the century.

- The amount of precipitation being received in areas such as Africa and the Caribbean has decreased in recent years.

- Areas already receive higher amounts of rainfall will become more prone to flooding, whereas areas receiving lower amounts of rainfall with be more susceptible to droughts and wildfires.

- In 2002 flooding in the Czech Republic due to global climate change killed 16 people and left more 30,000 homeless.

- Climate change has also been blamed for the 2000 floods in England and Whales.

- It is also predicted that hurricanes will become stronger and more frequent.

- According to National Geographic, the number of hurricanes which form each year has doubled over the past century.

Rain.mp3