Global warming accelerates the water cycle, with associated climate consequences – Are you up with that?

This could lead to destabilization of the global climate system, intensifying hurricanes in specific regions, and accelerating ice melting at the poles, according to a new study led by ICM-CSIC. .

Peer-reviewed publications

INSTITUT DE CINCIES DEL MAR (ICM-CSIC)

Researchers at Institut de Ciencies del Mar (ICM-CSIC) in Barcelona has found that global warming is accelerating the water cycle, which could have significant consequences for the global climate system, according to an article published in the journal Nature. this recently. Scientific reports.

This acceleration of the water cycle is due to increased evaporation of water from seas and oceans due to increased temperatures. As a result, much water circulates in the atmosphere in the form of vapor, 90% of which will eventually precipitate back into the sea, while the remaining 10% will precipitate on the continent.

“The acceleration of the water cycle affects both oceans and continents, where storms can become increasingly intense. This higher amount of water circulating in the atmosphere could also explain the increase in precipitation being detected in some polar regions, where the fact that rain rather than snow is accelerating melting,” explains. Estrella OlmedoLead author of the study.

The study also shows that a reduction in wind in some areas of the ocean, which facilitates stratification of the water column, i.e. water that does not mix in the vertical direction, may also contribute to the acceleration of the ocean. water cycle.

“When the wind is no longer strong, the surface water warms, but does not exchange heat with the water below, making the surface saltier than the layers below and allowing the evaporation effect to be observed with satellite measurements.” , shown Antonio Turiel, is also an author of the study. In this sense, Turiel added, “this tells us that the atmosphere and oceans interact in a more powerful way than we imagined, with important consequences for continental and polar regions.” “.

Satellites are key to oceanographic studies

To carry out the study, the researchers analyzed data on ocean surface salinity – data measured by satellite-. Unlike subsurface salinity data – which are collected with on-site instruments – satellite data allows them to detect this acceleration of the water cycle and, for the first time, the effect of stratification on with very large areas in the ocean. According to them, this is due to the ability of the satellite to measure data continuously, regardless of the environmental conditions and accessibility of different areas of the ocean.

“We can see that surface salinity is exhibiting an increase in the water cycle that subsurface salinity is not. Specifically, in the Pacific, we found that surface salinity decreased more slowly than subsurface salinity, and in this same region we observed an increase in sea surface temperature and a decrease in intensity. wind and depth of mixing layer”, details Olmedo.

These findings are the result of the use of algorithms and other data analysis products that Barcelona Expert Center (BEC), attached to ICM-CSIC, has been created in recent years from SMOS space mission of the European Space Agency (ESA), designed to collect observations of ocean salinity, which is essential for understanding ocean circulation, one of the key factors to understand the global climate.

This circulation is essentially dependent on the density of the water, which is determined by its temperature and salinity. Therefore, changes in these two parameters, however small, can eventually have important consequences for the global climate, which makes it important to monitor them closely.

In this regard, Turiel concludes that “ocean models must standardize the assimilation of satellite salinity data, as the information they provide is complementary to in situ data and this is important, especially especially at a time of the current climate crisis, where changes are happening much faster than in the past”.

JOURNEYS

Scientific reports

DOI

10.1038 / s41598-022-10265-1

RESEARCH METHODS

Simulation / computational modeling

RESEARCH SUBJECTS

Do not apply

ARTICLE TITLE

Increased stratification observed by satellite measurements of sea surface salinity

From EurekAlert!