Two new studies have uncovered the first links between man-made global warming and an increase in humidity throughout all levels of Earth’s atmosphere.<\/p>\n
One study, published in today’s edition of the journal Nature, found that the overall increase in worldwide surface humidity from 1973 to 1999 was 2.2%, which is due “primarily to human-caused global warming,” according to study co-author Nathan Gillett of the University of East Anglia in Norwich, United Kingdom.<\/p>\n
The burning of fossil fuels \u201d\u201d oil, coal, natural gas \u201d\u201d is considered the chief way humans contribute to climate change because it releases heat-trapping greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.<\/p>\n
Along with the added heat stress on people from the increased humidity, Gillett says the additional moisture in the atmosphere could lead to heavier rains and more volatile tropical storms. “If the humidity is increasing, then hurricane intensity will increase, too,” he says.<\/p>\n
Scientists had observed significant increases in humidity at the Earth’s surface over the past few decades, but it had been unclear whether these changes were from a natural or human influence on climate.<\/p>\n
A study published last month \u201d\u201d which looked at the amount of water vapor in the full depth of the atmosphere over the oceans \u201d\u201d was the first one to determine that human-induced warming is having a significant effect on the atmosphere’s total moisture content.<\/p>\n