Precipitation and Temperature Trends in the context of Global Warming: An Exploratory Analysis

The present global warming debate has sparked a number of recent studies on precipitation and temperature trends on local, regional and continental scales. The thrust of these studies is to validate the hypothesis that the hydrologic cycle would be intensified in a warmer world.

In this paper, precipitation and temperature trends on a local, regional and continental scale over North America and elsewhere are closely examined. An exploratory analysis of these trends reveal considerable variability over different regions. Further, the precipitation trends are analysed against increasing and decreasing temperature trends over various regions of North America and elsewhere. Implications of this analysis are discussed in the context of climate change and climate variability.