Near-Future Heat and Precipitation Extremes Predicted

Unlike long-term climate predictions, forecasts about the next twenty to fifty years are fraught with major uncertainties.  In spite of this, however, ETH-Zurich scientists have found ways to make scientific projections about the coming decades -- by considering large regions or the entire world.

This enabled them to demonstrate that the intensity of heat extremes and periods of heavy rainfall will not increase equally everywhere on Earth:  while heat extremes will become significantly more intense on two thirds of the land surface within three decades, there will be no significant changes in a third of the area.  And as far as heavy rainfall is concerned, it will increase by ten per cent in a quarter of the area and less than ten per cent in the remaining three quarters.

Near-Future Heat and Precipitation Extremes Predicted