Researchers from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory stated that climate models recently predict heavier rainfalls in the future for tropical regions as global warming continues. The JPL scientists also believed that precipitation models these days underestimate the amount of rain due to the rising global warming effect.
According to Phys Org, recent NASA studies stated that tall, high-altitude clouds in the tropical regions will shrink more. However, that might not be the case as human activities were said to contribute to the increase of climate change. Hence, the result of the study mentioned that there would be fewer heat-trapping clouds that would cause cooler and more unstable air leading to more rain in the future.
The JPL team from NASA then assessed climate data collected from the past 30 to 40 years ago and compared them to 23 climate model simulations from the same period. Su alongside the four universities then studied the data through retrospective simulations and utilizing NASA's spaceborne Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) and ground observations along with other satellite instruments.
Furthermore, the study led by Su discovered that most climate models in the recent decades didn’t provide effective prediction regarding the rate of increased precipitation. The team also discovered that the zone of rising air at the center of the Hadley Cell will narrow more as a result of more rainfall.
With that said, Hadley Cell was then identified to be an area of rising air with a sinking air offset. "This study provides a pathway for improving predictions of future precipitation change," lead study author and researcher at Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Hui Su concluded as reported by Science World Report.
Nonetheless, Su and his team concluded that updating the predictive climate models in regards to tropical high clouds and air flow would open avenues for more effective climate models in the future. The study was published in the journal Nature Communications under the title “Tightening of Tropical Ascent and High Clouds Key to Precipitation Change in a Warmer Climate.”
