Dry days - those without any rain or other precipitation - are expected to increase by the end of the century. This is a likely effect of climate change, as temperatures react to climate change.
Researchers from the Scripps institute of Oceanography in San Diego showed parts of the world could soon see 30 days or more without any precipitation each year.
Climate change will affect precipitation levels in regions around the world. In dry areas, the small amount of precipitation they receive will be narrowed to fewer days each year.
"Changes in intensity of precipitation events and duration of intervals between those events will have direct effects on vegetation and soil moisture," Stephen Jackson, director of the U.S. Department of the Interior Southwest Climate Science Center, said.
Some areas of the world, including the Amazon, Central America, the Mediterranean and Indonesia will likely see the greatest increase in the number of dry days they see each year. These regions may experience 30 days a year or more with no rainfall.
California may see an increase in moisture, and could experience five to ten additional days a years with precipitation.
If predictions of this study come to pass, the new weather patterns could make climate science more difficult. This is because precipitation levels will be averaged over a smaller number of days.
The team developed 28 different models showing how climate change could change precipitation levels worldwide. The differing scenarios were largely in agreement in predicting where dry days would become more common. They did have some differences in the predicted severity of storms. Each of the models suggested the most extreme storms will happen more frequently.
"Looking at changes in the number of dry days per year is a new way of understanding how climate change will affect us that goes beyond just annual or seasonal mean precipitation changes, and allows us to better adapt to and mitigate the impacts of local hydrological changes," said Surjai Polade, lead author of the study.
Some areas like the American southwest experience rain so infrequently that a change of just a couple days a year could have a significant impact on annual rainfall. Many of the regions expected to receive additional days of rain include equatorial regions of the Pacific Ocean and in the arctic. That water does farmers little good, falling in the ocean and the frozen tundra.
Details of this study are profiled in the open-access journal Scientific Reports.
