MEPX
Chapter 8 of 10All chapters
  1. 1Weather against climate
  2. 2The engine
  3. 3Water in the air
  4. 4Forecasting
  5. 5The climate system
  6. 6The greenhouse effect
  7. 7A changing climate
  8. 8Consequences
  9. 9Responses
  10. 10Reading claims about climate

Chapter 8 of 10

Consequences

What a warmer atmosphere does.

The physical chain

Warmer air holds more moisture, so heavy rainfall intensifies. Warmer oceans expand and ice melts, so sea level rises. Heatwaves become more frequent and severe.

  • About 7 percent more water vapour per degree of warming.
  • Some regions get drier while others get wetter; the average hides the redistribution.

Extremes

The clearest signal is in extremes rather than averages. Attribution studies now estimate how much more likely a specific heatwave or flood was made by warming.