Read here. The global warming hypothesis (AGW) and alarmists make the claim that warming will induce a greater frequency and intensity of rainfall events. From the empirical evidence, it is now known that an "increase" of storm activity, such as hurricanes, has actually been on the decrease. (click on image to enlarge)
Yet, there are areas of the world where increases of heavy rainfalls have been noted. One such area is the monsoon region of India. Now, after much research, scientists are saying that the increase of heavy rainfalls is actually being caused by urbanization, not global warming. In essence, as researchers (Kishtawal et al.) have shown, urban areas have experienced the increase of intense rainfall events, not rural areas in the same region.
"In a study of the Indian subcontinent, Kishtawal et al. assessed the impacts of urbanization on the region's rainfall characteristics during the time of the Indian summer monsoon by analyzing in situ and satellite-based precipitation and population datasets...their study showed "a significantly increasing trend in the frequency of heavy rainfall climatology over urban regions of India during the monsoon season," adding that "urban regions experience less occurrences of light rainfall and significantly higher occurrences of intense precipitation compared to non-urban regions.".....The authors note that the early studies of Changnon (1968), Landsberg (1970) and Huff and Changnon (1972) yielded "evidence of warm seasonal rainfall increases of 9-17% downwind of major cities,"" [C. M. Kishtawal, Dev Niyogi, Mukul Tewari, Roger A. Pielke Sr., J. Marshall Shepherd 2010: International Journal of Climatology]
Additional severe-weather and peer-reviewed postings.
