Study confirms global warming is moistening the atmosphere b4in.org/a77x Climate models have invariably predicted that the upper atmosphere would become more moist as a result of global warming, the question remained whether these disturbances are natural or anthropogenic. A new research that used satellite readings found that indeed rising vapor content in the upper troposphere comes a result of man-made global warming. The findings further strengthens climate models and adds to a body of evidence that supports anthropogenic climate change. A wetter atmosphere The authors write in the paper abstract, published in PNAS : “Our analysis demonstrates that the upper-tropospheric moistening observed over the period 1979–2005 cannot be explained by natural causes and results principally from an anthropogenic warming of the climate. By attributing the observed increase directly to human activities, this study verifies the presence of the largest known feedback mechanism for amplifying anthropogenic climate change.” The amount of water vapor in the atmosphere exists in direct relation to the temperature. If you increase the temperature, more water evaporates and becomes vapor, and vice versa. So when something else causes a temperature increase (such as extra CO2 from fossil fuels), more water evaporates. Then, since water vapor is a greenhouse gas, this additional water vapor causes the temperature to go up even further. Effectively, water vapor causes a positive feedback loop and it can get quite dangerous. According to skepticalscience, for every 1°C change caused by CO2, the water vapor will cause the temperature to go up another 1°C. Climate change models predict a moistening of the atmosphere. Researchers at University of Miami sought to make the first measurements and thus verify whether or not the model projections of anthropogenic climate change are genuine. Radiant heat was measured using satellite imaging and they found that it has changed over the past 30 years. This change could be attributed to increased temperature or water vapor, so to separate potential effects the researchers complemented their initial readings with others made at different wavelenghts. More b4in.org/a77x
Posted on: Wed, 13 Aug 2014 22:11:26 +0000
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