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Ocean salinities reveal strong global water cycle intensification during 1950 to 2000
Citation
Durack, PJ and Wijffels, SE and Matear, RJ, Ocean salinities reveal strong global water cycle intensification during 1950 to 2000, Science, 336, (6080) pp. 455-458. ISSN 0036-8075 (2012) [Refereed Article]
Copyright Statement
Copyright 2012 The American Association for the Advancement of Science
DOI: doi:10.1126/science.1212222
Abstract
Fundamental thermodynamics and climate models suggest that dry regions will become drier
and wet regions will become wetter in response to warming. Efforts to detect this long-term
response in sparse surface observations of rainfall and evaporation remain ambiguous. We show
that ocean salinity patterns express an identifiable fingerprint of an intensifying water cycle.
Our 50-year observed global surface salinity changes, combined with changes from global climate
models, present robust evidence of an intensified global water cycle at a rate of 8 ± 5% per degree
of surface warming. This rate is double the response projected by current-generation climate
models and suggests that a substantial (16 to 24%) intensification of the global water cycle will
occur in a future 2° to 3° warmer world.
Item Details
Item Type: | Refereed Article |
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Keywords: | climate modeling, ecological footprint, evaporation, global warming, hydrological cycle, rainfall, sea surface salinity, thermodynamics |
Research Division: | Earth Sciences |
Research Group: | Oceanography |
Research Field: | Physical oceanography |
Objective Division: | Expanding Knowledge |
Objective Group: | Expanding knowledge |
Objective Field: | Expanding knowledge in the earth sciences |
UTAS Author: | Durack, PJ (Mr Paul Durack) |
ID Code: | 83681 |
Year Published: | 2012 |
Web of Science® Times Cited: | 502 |
Deposited By: | IMAS Research and Education Centre |
Deposited On: | 2013-03-20 |
Last Modified: | 2013-05-06 |
Downloads: | 0 |
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