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Warmer, Wetter, Warmer

GLOBAL WARMING LEADS TO A WETTER WORLD, WHICH IN TURN MAKES IT EVEN WARMER.  LEARN WHY HUMANS SHOULD BE TAKING THE HEAT FOR THIS CYCLE ON TODAY’S ENVIRONMINUTE.

OVER THE PAST TWO DECADES, OUR ATMOSPHERE HAS BECOME MORE HUMID.  THAT’S BAD NEWS SINCE WATER VAPOR TRAPS HEAT LIKE A GREENHOUSE GAS AND MAKES HOT WEATHER FEEL HOTTER.

SO WHAT’S CAUSING THIS PHENOMENON?  BEN SANTER, A PHYSICIST AT LAWRENCE LIVERMORE LABORATORY, LOOKED AT THOUSANDS OF CLIMATE MODELS TO SEE IF NATURAL CHANGES COULD EXPLAIN IT.

SANTER: NO MODEL IN THE WORLD COULD EXPLAIN, JUST BASED ON NATURAL CLIMATE NOISE ALONE, THE INCREASE IN WATER VAPOR THAT WE’VE ACTUALLY SEEN.

BUT WHEN HUMAN-PRODUCED GREENHOUSE GASES WERE INCLUDED IN THE MODELS, IT WAS A DIFFERENT STORY.  IN FACT, THE RESULTS MATCHED CURRENT WATER VAPOR LEVELS – OFFERING MORE PROOF THAT HUMANS INDUCE CLIMATE CHANGE.

THE ENVIRONMINUTE IS MADE POSSIBLE BY THE HEINZ FAMILY PHILANTHROPIES AND THE HEINZ ENDOWMENTS.  LEARN MORE BY VISITING ENVIRONMINUTE-DOT-COM. 

Read Santer’s study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Read more in Science Daily.

Access the IPCC Reports on Climate Change.