Dept. of Geosciences Colloquium: What sets the amount of precipitation in our current and future climate

Abstract:

The amount of precipitation in our climate is set both by water (or mass) balance and by energy balance. From the water budget perspective, the amount of precipitation (P) is required to balance the amount of evaporation (E) at the global-scale. Locally, P and E may not be balanced and could be compensated by divergence of water vapor. In a similar manner, from the energy budget perspective P (which release heat to the atmosphere) is globally limited by the ability of the atmosphere to radiatively cool (Q). Similarly, P and Q don’t have to be equal due to advection of dry static energy at local-scales. This talk will explore differences and commonalities between the water and energy budgets controls on precipitation and their role in determining the spatial scale of changes in precipitation under climate change. I will demonstrate how using the water and energy budgets could help us better understand regional and global precipitation changes due to any anthropogenic forcing, with a specific focus on aerosol forcing.

Event Organizers: Dr. Roy Barkan and Dr. Asaf Inbal