Climate Change Causes Storm Levels Previously Projected For Year 2080 – Study

An Israeli study published by scientists at the Weizmann Institute of Science on Thursday revealed that the effects of climate change have heavily intensified winter storms in the Southern Hemisphere to a level that computational climate models had only previously projected for the year 2080. 

The study was published in the Nature Climate Change journal. Dr. Rei Chemke of Weismann’s Earth and Planetary Sciences led the study with a team of scientists alongside collaborations with Dr. Yi Ming of Princeton University and Dr. Janni Yuval of MIT. 

Chemke and his team came to this conclusion after comparing climate model simulations projected to occur in 2080 to their present-day winter storm observations.  

“We chose to focus on the Southern Hemisphere because the intensification registered there has been stronger than in the Northern Hemisphere,” explained Chemke. “We didn’t examine the Northern Hemisphere, but it seems that the intensification of storms in this hemisphere is slower compared to that in the Southern Hemisphere. If the trend persists, we will be observing more significant winter storm intensification here in the upcoming years and decades.”

According to Chemke, an individual winter storm, which typically lasts up to a few days, does not spark an immense climatic shift on its own, adding “However, the long-term effect of winter storms becomes evident when assessing cumulative data collected over long periods of time.” 

Over time, these storms are responsible for transferring heat, moisture, and momentum within the atmosphere, thereby affecting Earth’s various climate zones. 

“Winter storms are responsible for the majority of the heat transport away from tropical regions toward the poles,” Chemke explained. “Without their contribution, the average pole temperatures would be about 30°C lower.” 

After simulating storm intensification patterns under isolated natural climate fluctuations, Chemke and his research partners found that storms over the past two decades have been intensifying faster than can be explained by these natural processes alone. This indicates that external factors, namely human industrial activities, play a significant role in the accelerated intensification of Southern Hemisphere storms. 

The researchers determined that physical changes in atmospheric jet streams over the past 20 years are linked to the escalating nature of these Southern Hemisphere winter storms, which are not accurately reflected in current climate models. Chemke calls for this climate model parameter to be adjusted but maintains that other models forecasting temperature, precipitation, sea ice conditions, and summer storm patterns, among others, are still simulated accurately. 

The results of the study suggest that climate projections for the coming years are perhaps more grim than prior assessments have predicted and indicate that human activity yields a greater impact on the Southern Hemisphere than previous estimates.