Climate Letter #2113

Recent studies add more clarity to the definition of atmospheric rivers (ARs). Today’s letter will mainly consist of links to these studies plus quotes. I have started to use the term AR quite aggressively, and want to make sure I am giving it a meaning that is not open criticism on the grounds that science has a different definition. Further, as you can see by browsing through this material, there is no mention of these rivers actually being producers of greenhouse energy effects. All of the emphasis is on precipitation, and I have no quarrel with that side of the discussion. All I am saying is that in addition to producing precipitation over large parts of the planet (meaning in either hemisphere beyond the tropical belt) the exact same ARs have another climate-related role that is just as significant if not more so. The second role is based on an unrecognized property of the material all ARs are composed of, namely, precipitable water (PW). Any scientist who says they are composed of water vapor is simply not telling the whole story. PW includes all of the products of condensation created by water vapor as the river flows on. There is evidence that PW, in all forms and regardless of atmospheric locations, has a consistently powerful greenhouse energy effect. This evidence has only recently been discovered. It has yet to be publicized and subjected to outside verification.

A study published  on January 18, entitled ‘Rivers’ in the sky likely to drench East Asia under climate change, is focused on the interaction between ARs and mountainous territory.  Here is how the study was covered in a review by Phys.org at the link https://phys.org/news/2022-01-rivers-sky-drench-east-asia.html.  Some quotes:  “As the name suggests, atmospheric rivers are long, narrow bands of concentrated water vapor flowing through the atmosphere. When one of these bands meets a barrier, such as a mountain range, it can produce extreme levels of rainfall or snowfall…..Our findings are likely also applicable to other regions of the mid-latitudes where interactions between atmospheric rivers and steep mountains play a major role in precipitation, such as in western North America and Europe. These regions may also experience more frequent and intense extreme precipitation events as the climate warms.”   (The last sentence is a common theme in practically all AR studies.)

A November study was focused on the effects of ARs in the Australian Alps, reviewed by Phys.org at  https://phys.org/news/2021-11-atmospheric-rivers-hasten-australia.html.  Some quotes:  “Atmospheric rivers are long, narrow regions of high moisture content in the lower atmosphere that transport most of the water vapor from the tropics to the sub-tropics and midlatitudes…..As the name suggests, they’re like large rivers in the sky, often extending over thousands of kilometers, and as the climate warms, the intensity of these events is predicted to become more extreme and frequent.”

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Another recent study, published in December, is especially interesting because it sets a lower limit on the size of a standardized AR.  The study investigates rainfall in Chile’s Atacama Desert, a region of extreme hyperaridity that averages about five millimeters of rainfall per year.  In this situation the authors have determined that the the concept of ARs as agencies bringing in such small amounts of rainfall is technically inappropriate.  As a replacement they describe the process by employing the term moisture conveyor belts.  The study has open access at this link:  https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2021GL094372.  Some quotes:  “While moisture conveyor belts (MCBs) and atmospheric rivers (ARs) have been associated with extreme precipitation in semiarid regions, their role for the Atacama Desert has not been previously investigated. This study reveals that about four MCBs per year make landfall in the Atacama Desert…..In contrast to atmospheric river characteristics reported for midlatitudes, a unique vertical structure with an elevated moisture transport independent of the near-surface layer is discovered here…..Due to the similar filamentary structure of MCBs and ARs visible, for example, in fields of integrated water vapor transport (IVT), state-of-the-art AR detection algorithms may not distinguish these features.” (I think the greenhouse energy effect of an MCB, if it exists, is clearly not as significant for climate purposes as the moisture effect.)

Carl

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