NASA clarifies that "invisible river" in the atmosphere causes drought and flooding

In the world, "drought" caused by not raining, and "flood" caused by excessive rain occurs frequently, but one of the causes causes a large scale movement in the atmosphere NASA is beginning to reveal that it is a "steam" river ".

NASA Estimates the Global Reach of Atmospheric Rivers | NASA
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/jpl/nasa-estimates-the-global-reach-of-atmospheric-rivers

NASA: Invisible "rivers" in our atmosphere cause many droughts and floods here on Earth - Quartz
https://qz.com/1120503/nasa-invisible-rivers-in-our-atmosphere-cause-many-droughts-and-floods-here-on-earth/

What NASA calls "Atmospheric Rivers" (atmospheric river) is the phenomenon that air containing a large amount of water vapor moves on the earth on a large scale. A typhoon that causes extensive damage on the ground due to the water vapor evaporated from the heated sea is considered to be equivalent to this "river of the atmosphere".


NASA had revealed that such a phenomenon would cause a disaster in 2013, but at that time it was a study on a very limited area, and what was announced this time is a study on a wider area It is said to be the result.

Air containing a large amount of moisture in the form of water vapor moves through the atmosphere as a large mass. Moisture to be carried is hardly visible, but as a quantity it is quite a lot, it will rain somewhere on the ground and rain, it will cause a major flood damage. The number of people in the world suffering from the disaster caused by this 'atmospheric river' is estimated to reach 300 million people in a year even if the standard is sweetly estimated.

In addition, this system carries 22% of the fresh water circulating the earth, and furthermore, in the areas such as the east coast of North America, Southeast Asia, New Zealand, the scale will reach 50%. In areas where the influence of this "atmospheric river" is strong, the probability that a disaster will occur will rise by 80% compared to other areas. Conversely, it has been found that the probability that drought will occur will be as high as 90% in areas with little influence.

In response to this achievement, Duane Wallser, a coauthor of thesis and chief scientist of the Earth Science and Technology Directorate at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said, "In this research, snow and the atmosphere in which the precious fresh water of the earth has accumulated , And the "atmospheric river" that causes the occurrence of global floods and droughts.The contents discovered here include atmospheric observations and mechanism modeling systems that predict atmospheric river movement It will be the driving force to make it possible to improve. " Research in this field has just begun to be clarified and further research will be carried out in the future.

ByMark Stevenson