Abstract
THE increases in the concentration of water vapour constitute the single largest positive feedback in models of global climate warming caused by greenhouse gases1,2. It has been suggested3–5 that sinking air in the regions surrounding deep cumulus clouds will dry the upper troposphere and eliminate or reverse the direction of water vapour feedback. We have now tested this hypothesis by performing an idealized simulation of climate change with two different versions of a climate model. The versions differ in their parameterizations of moist convection and stratiform clouds, but both incorporate the drying due to subsidence of clear air. Despite increased drying of the upper troposphere by cumulus clouds, upper-level humidity increases in the warmer climate because of enhanced upward moisture transport by the general circulation and increased accumulation of water vapour and ice at cumulus cloud tops. The model behaviour is consistent with recent satellite estimates of the water vapour feedback6,7.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Manabe, S. & Wetnerald, R. I. J. atmos. Sci. 24, 241–259 (1967).
Hansen, J. et al. Climate Processes and Climate Sensitivity (eds Hansen, J. & Takahashi, T.) 130–163 (American Geophysical Union, Washington DC, 1984).
Ellsaesser, H. W. Atmos. Envir. 18, 431–434 (1984).
Lindzen, R. S. Bull. Am. met. Soc. 71, 288–299 (1990).
Lindzen, R. S. Bull. Am. met. Soc. 71, 1465–1467 (1990).
Rind, D. et al. Nature 349, 500–503 (1991).
Raval, A. & Ramanathan, V. Nature 342, 758–761 (1989).
Wallace, J. M. & Hobbs, P. V. Atmospheric Science—An Introductory Survey (Academic, New York, 1977).
Hansen, J. et al. Mon. Weath. Rev. 111, 609–662 (1983).
Manabe, S. et al. Mon. Weath. Rev. 93, 769–798 (1965).
Kuo, H. L. J. atmos. Sci. 31, 1232–1240 (1974).
Del Genio, A. D. & Yao, M.-S. J. atmos. Sci. 45, 2641–2668 (1988).
Yao, M.-S. & Del Genio, A. D. J. Clim. 2, 850–863 (1989).
Del Genio, A. D. & Yao, M.-S. AMS Conf. Cloud Phys. Preprint No. 9A.4, 497–504 (American Meteorological Society, Boston, 1990).
Arakawa, A. & Chen, J.-M. Short- and Medium-Range Numerical Weather Prediction, Suppl. to J. met. Soc. Japan, 107–131 (1987).
Cess, R. D. et al. J. geophys. Res. 95, 16601–16615 (1990).
Oort, A. H. NOAA Prof. Paper No. 14 (US Dept. Commerce, Washington DC, 1983).
Pan, Y.-H. & Oort, A. H. Mon. Weath. Rev. 111, 1244–1258 (1983).
Hansen, J., Rossow, W. & Fung, I. Issues Sci. Tech. 7, 62–69 (1990).
Mitchell, J. F. B. et al. Nature 341, 132–134 (1989).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Genfo, A., Lacis, A. & Ruedy, R. Simulations of the effect of a warmer climate on atmospheric humidity. Nature 351, 382–385 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1038/351382a0
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/351382a0
This article is cited by
-
Water Structures and Climate Change Impact: a Review
Water Resources Management (2020)
-
Separating climate change signals into thermodynamic, lapse-rate and circulation effects: theory and application to the European summer climate
Climate Dynamics (2017)
-
Baseflow recession analysis in the inland Pacific Northwest of the United States
Hydrogeology Journal (2015)
-
Representing the Sensitivity of Convective Cloud Systems to Tropospheric Humidity in General Circulation Models
Surveys in Geophysics (2012)
-
Modelling European winter wind storm losses in current and future climate
Climatic Change (2010)
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.