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10 - The Changing Hydrological Cycle

from Flows of Energy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 February 2022

Kevin E. Trenberth
Kevin E. Trenberth
Affiliation:
National Center for Atmospheric Research
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Summary

The hydrological cycle fundamentally involves evaporation (E) of moisture from the land and vegetation or ocean surface into the atmosphere, and back again as precipitation (P) (Fig. 10.1). Evaporation produces evaporative cooling at the surface and moistens the air. It includes transpiration from plants in which water enters the atmosphere through the tiny stomata in leaves as photosynthesis occurs. Together these are called evapotranspiration. Precipitation and the relationships to humidity and sea surface temperatures (SSTs) were introduced in Section 5.4. Water vapor is moved around by the atmosphere, and the precipitation occurs elsewhere, often in preferred locations such as mid-latitude storm tracks or tropical monsoons and convergence zones.

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The Changing Flow of Energy Through the Climate System , pp. 140 - 161
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

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References

References and Further Reading

Cheng, L., Trenberth, K. E., Gruber, N., et al., 2020: Improved estimates of changes in upper ocean salinity and the hydrological cycle. Journal of Climate, 33, doi: 10.1175/JCLI-D-20-0366.1.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dai, A., 2011: Characteristics and trends in various forms of the Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI) during 1900–2008, Journal of Geophysical. Research, 116, D12115, doi: 10.1029/2010JD015541.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schlosser, C. A., Strzepek, K., Gao, X., et al., 2014: The future of global water stress: an integrated assessment, Earth’s Future, 2, 341–361, doi: 10.1002/2014EF000238.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Trenberth, K. E., 1998: Atmospheric moisture residence times and cycling: implications for rainfall rates with climate change. Climatic Change, 39, 667–694.Google Scholar
Trenberth, K. E., 2011: Changes in precipitation with climate change. Climate Research, 47, 123–138. doi: 10.3354/cr00953.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Trenberth, K. E., and Dai, A., 2007: Effects of Mount Pinatubo volcanic eruption on the hydrological cycle as an analog of geoengineering. Geophysical Research Letters. 34, L15702, doi: 10.1029/2007GL030524.Google Scholar
Trenberth, K. E., and Fasullo, J., 2007: Water and energy budgets of hurricanes and implications for climate change. Journal of Geophysical Research, 112, D23107, doi: 10.1029/2006JD008304.Google Scholar
Trenberth, K. E., Dai, A., Rasmussen, R. M., and Parsons, D. B., 2003: The changing character of precipitation. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 84, 1205−1217. doi: 10.1175/bams-84-9-1205.Google Scholar
Trenberth, K. E., Smith, L., Qian, T., Dai, A., and Fasullo, J., 2007: Estimates of the global water budget and its annual cycle using observational and model data. Journal of Hydrometeorology, 8, 758–769. doi: 10.1175/JHM600.1.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Trenberth, K. E., Dai, A., van der Schrier, G., et al., 2014: Global warming and changes in drought. Nature Climate Change, 4, 17–22, doi: 10.1038/NCLIMATE2067.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Trenberth, K. E., Cheng, L., Jacobs, P., Zhang, Y., and Fasullo, J., 2018: Hurricane Harvey links to ocean heat content. Earth’s Future, 6, 730–744, doi: 10.1029/2018EF000825.Google Scholar
Trenberth, K. E., Zhang, Y., Fasullo, J. T., and Cheng, L., 2019: Observation-based estimates of global and basin ocean meridional heat transport time series. Journal of Climate, 32, 4567–4583. doi:10.1175/JCLI-D-18-0872.1.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

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