Tropical Continents Rainier Than Expected From Geometrical Constraints
Abstract Abundant rainfall over tropical land masses sustains rich ecosystems, a crucial source of biodiversity and sink of carbon. Here, we use two characteristics of the observed tropical precipitation distribution, its distinctive zonal arrangement and its partitioning between land and ocean, to...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wiley
2022-08-01
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| Series: | AGU Advances |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1029/2021AV000636 |
| _version_ | 1811219044142940160 |
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| author | Cathy Hohenegger Bjorn Stevens |
| author_facet | Cathy Hohenegger Bjorn Stevens |
| author_sort | Cathy Hohenegger |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Abundant rainfall over tropical land masses sustains rich ecosystems, a crucial source of biodiversity and sink of carbon. Here, we use two characteristics of the observed tropical precipitation distribution, its distinctive zonal arrangement and its partitioning between land and ocean, to understand whether land conditions the climate to receive more than its fair share of precipitation as set by the land‐sea distribution. Our analysis demonstrates that it is not possible to explain the tropics‐wide partitioning of precipitation unless one assumes that rain is favored over land. Land receives more than its fair share of precipitation by broadening and letting the tropical rainbelts move more, effectively underpinning a negative feedback between surface water storage and precipitation. In contrast, rain is disfavored over land in climate models. Our findings suggest that the abundance of rainfall that shapes the terrestrial tropical biosphere is more robust to perturbations than models have suggested. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-12T07:19:04Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-296f5fc0f33644fe8c974fd24009324c |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2576-604X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-12T07:19:04Z |
| publishDate | 2022-08-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | AGU Advances |
| spelling | doaj.art-296f5fc0f33644fe8c974fd24009324c2022-12-22T03:42:21ZengWileyAGU Advances2576-604X2022-08-0134n/an/a10.1029/2021AV000636Tropical Continents Rainier Than Expected From Geometrical ConstraintsCathy Hohenegger0Bjorn Stevens1Max Planck Institute for Meteorology Hamburg GermanyMax Planck Institute for Meteorology Hamburg GermanyAbstract Abundant rainfall over tropical land masses sustains rich ecosystems, a crucial source of biodiversity and sink of carbon. Here, we use two characteristics of the observed tropical precipitation distribution, its distinctive zonal arrangement and its partitioning between land and ocean, to understand whether land conditions the climate to receive more than its fair share of precipitation as set by the land‐sea distribution. Our analysis demonstrates that it is not possible to explain the tropics‐wide partitioning of precipitation unless one assumes that rain is favored over land. Land receives more than its fair share of precipitation by broadening and letting the tropical rainbelts move more, effectively underpinning a negative feedback between surface water storage and precipitation. In contrast, rain is disfavored over land in climate models. Our findings suggest that the abundance of rainfall that shapes the terrestrial tropical biosphere is more robust to perturbations than models have suggested.https://doi.org/10.1029/2021AV000636precipitationtropicsland‐atmosphere interactionsland‐to‐ocean precipitation ratioobservation |
| spellingShingle | Cathy Hohenegger Bjorn Stevens Tropical Continents Rainier Than Expected From Geometrical Constraints AGU Advances precipitation tropics land‐atmosphere interactions land‐to‐ocean precipitation ratio observation |
| title | Tropical Continents Rainier Than Expected From Geometrical Constraints |
| title_full | Tropical Continents Rainier Than Expected From Geometrical Constraints |
| title_fullStr | Tropical Continents Rainier Than Expected From Geometrical Constraints |
| title_full_unstemmed | Tropical Continents Rainier Than Expected From Geometrical Constraints |
| title_short | Tropical Continents Rainier Than Expected From Geometrical Constraints |
| title_sort | tropical continents rainier than expected from geometrical constraints |
| topic | precipitation tropics land‐atmosphere interactions land‐to‐ocean precipitation ratio observation |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1029/2021AV000636 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT cathyhohenegger tropicalcontinentsrainierthanexpectedfromgeometricalconstraints AT bjornstevens tropicalcontinentsrainierthanexpectedfromgeometricalconstraints |