Climate Management Issues

21The Earth’s Climate System

to make reasonable predictions of at least the large scale changes that we

should expect from global warming” (Vecchi, 2006).

Vecchi believes climate change is to blame because in order for the ocean

and atmosphere to maintain an energy balance, the rate at which the atmo-

sphere absorbs water from the ocean must equal the amount that it loses to

rainfall. As climate change increases the air temperature, more water evapo-

rates from the ocean into the air. The atmosphere cannot convert it to rainfall

and return it back fast enough. Because the air is gaining water faster than

it can release it, it gets overloaded, and the natural system compensates by

slowing the trade wind down, decreasing the amount of water being ...