Study predicts more rain for Australia as temperatures rise
Steve Sherwood, a professor at the Climate Change Research Centre at the University of NSW, who contributed to the research, said global warming would have a clear impact on rainfall.
"With two degrees of global warming, Australia is stuck with either more aridity, much heavier extreme rains, or some combination of the two."
The scientists examined the heaviest rainstorms across Australia, focusing on the different climates of Sydney, Melbourne and Darwin. They found greater average humidity led to an increase in heavy downpours. Even in areas where humidity and rainfall were lower, a two degree increase in global temperature led to an 11 per cent increase in total rainfall.
The study's lead author Jiawei Bao said most parts of Australia would be affected by an increase in global temperatures.
"Extreme precipitation is projected to increase almost everywhere in Australia from tropical regions in the north to mid-latitudes in the south and from dry deserts in the centre to wet places along the coast," he said.
source: illawarramercury.com
