InTeGrate Modules and Courses >Water Science and Society > Student Materials > Module 8.2: Cities in Peril: Future climate change, population growth, and water issues > Climate Change > What are the implications of global warming for precipitation and water availability?
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These materials are part of a collection of classroom-tested modules and courses developed by InTeGrate. The materials engage students in understanding the earth system as it intertwines with key societal issues. The collection is freely available and ready to be adapted by undergraduate educators across a range of courses including: general education or majors courses in Earth-focused disciplines such as geoscience or environmental science, social science, engineering, and other sciences, as well as courses for interdisciplinary programs.
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Initial Publication Date: March 31, 2017

What are the implications of global warming for precipitation and water availability?

So what does all this human-induced warming mean for the water cycle and water availability? Thinking back to module 2, you learned that warmer air can hold more water (i.e., warmer air has a higher saturation vapor pressure). Therefore it is reasonable to expect higher amounts of water vapor in the air. This is supported by observations that show a 3.5% increase in water vapor in the past 40 years as the climate has warmed about 0.5 °C, with relative humidity remaining approximately constant.

Changes in precipitation are harder to measure (or predict) compared with changes in atmospheric water vapor content because of the immense temporal and spatial variability of precipitation. Nevertheless, patterns of precipitation change can readily be observed from historical records (Figure 2), with many areas seeing increases greater than 25 mm/year per decade (i.e., going from 300 mm/yr to 325 mm/yr over the course of a decade) and other places (particularly Africa and southeast Asia) seeing decreases in precipitation at rates greater than 10 to 25 mm/year per decade. With increasing temperatures, it naturally follows that a greater proportion of precipitation would fall as rain, rather than snow, which has also been documented by the IPCC.

Learning Checkpoint

According to Figure 2, all three models indicate that, on average, precipitation throughout the conterminous US has ___________ from 1901 to 2010 (see left column of maps).

(a) increased
(b) decreased
(c) remained about the same


According to Figure 2, all three models indicate that, on average, precipitation throughout the conterminous US has ___________ from 1951 to 2010 (see right column of maps).

(a) increased
(b) decreased
(c) remained about the same


These materials are part of a collection of classroom-tested modules and courses developed by InTeGrate. The materials engage students in understanding the earth system as it intertwines with key societal issues. The collection is freely available and ready to be adapted by undergraduate educators across a range of courses including: general education or majors courses in Earth-focused disciplines such as geoscience or environmental science, social science, engineering, and other sciences, as well as courses for interdisciplinary programs.
Explore the Collection »