Freshwater Rain Band Continues 300 Year Journey Northward
Wednesday, July 1, 2009 - 14:56
in Earth & Climate
The rain band near the equator that determines the supply of freshwater to nearly a billion people throughout the tropics and subtropics has been creeping north for more than 300 years, according to research published in Nature Geoscience. If the band continues to migrate at just less than a mile (1.4 kilometers) a year, which is the average for all the years it has been moving north, then some Pacific islands near the equator – even those that currently enjoy abundant rainfall – may be drier within decades and starved of freshwater by midcentury or sooner. Global warming? Maybe. But if it is, the arid event could happen even sooner than current projections. read more
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