According to CIM research, rising moisture levels will increase precipitation in the south and west of the Mediterranean continental area

The Environmental Physics Laboratory (EPhysLab) research group at the CIM, a member of the CIGUS Network, an initiative launched by the regional government (Xunta de Galicia) that groups  together centres of proven scientific excellence within the Galician university system, has published an article in Nature Communications claiming that rising moisture levels will led to increased precipitation in the south and west of the Mediterranean continental area.

The article, entitled Projected changes in atmospheric moisture transport contributions associated with climate warming in the North Atlantic, was written by CIM research staff members Luis Gimeno, Raquel Nieto, José C. Fernández, Albenis Pérez and Jorge Eiras, as well as  Stefan Rahimi from the University of Wyoming (USA). The article was written within the framework of the Setestrelo project, funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities and the Galician autonomous government (Xunta de Galicia).

“It is currently known that global warming, together with the associated changes to atmospheric circulation patterns, is altering the position and intensity of the various sources of moisture on a global scale. These source regions are characterised by adding more water to the atmosphere than they receive, and play a vital role in maintaining the hydrologic cycle”, the authors of the article explained.   

Projections for a worst-case scenario

The study is centred on two of the principal sources of global moisture: the North Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, analysing their evolution over the remaining decades of the 21st century in order to infer their influence on the surrounding continents by the end of the century. The Iberian Peninsula, “a particularly relevant conduit of moisture due to its strategic location”, also figures predominantly in this study led by Luis Gimeno and Raquel Nieto.