What are atmospheric rivers?

river-atmospheric

Image taken by the GOES 11 satellite.

The atmospheric rivers (RA, or AR in English Atmospheric Rivers) are narrow regions of moisture that are concentrated in the atmosphere. They contain a significant amount of water vapor, which is why they can cause many problems in coastal areas.

Let us know what atmospheric rivers are, and what damage they can cause.

What are atmospheric rivers?

Atmospheric rivers are responsible for most of the horizontal transport of water vapor outside the tropics, usually between large areas of divergent surface air flow. They are usually several kilometers long and hundreds of kilometers wide, so each of them can carry a much greater amount of water than the Amazon River.

Although they only cover 10% of the planet's circumference, they play a very important role in ecosystems around the world, since they represent more than 90% of the water vapor that is transported from north to south.

What are the damages they can cause?

Image - Felipe García Pagán

Image - Felipe García Pagán

While most atmospheric rivers are weak and are therefore beneficial in providing the rain that will fill the wells with drinking water in the regions they pass through, they can sometimes cause many problems. Floods, landslides, material losses, and can even kill people and animals, as it happened recently in Spain.

On December 18, 2016, one of these rivers caused significant damage in the south and southeast of the peninsula and in Balares. More than 120l / m2 fell in just twelve hours in many regions, causing flooding and the death of three people.

Atmospheric rivers are part of the planet. Thanks to them, we have a significant amount of water in the different regions. Have you heard of them?


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