```html Stronger Heavy Rainfall in Austria Due to Climate Change ```

A study with data from Austria, analyzed by the Vienna University of Technology, Geosphere Austria, the Ministry of Agriculture, and the University of Graz, was published in "Nature." The results are relevant for large parts of the world, especially for mid-latitudes. Blöschl explained that the rising temperatures have regional impacts and influence the flood situation.

Heavy Rainfall in Austria: Two Measurement Series Span Over 100 Years

Since precipitation in Austria has been meticulously documented in parallel by two independent entities over 100 years - firstly by Geosphere Austria, the former Central Institute for Meteorology and Geodynamics (ZAMG), and secondly by the Hydrographic Service - it can be examined in detail here. There are a total of 883 measuring stations nationwide, 163 of which also record hourly values. The scientists were thus able to analyze precise measurement series from the year 1900 to the year 2023, which is unparalleled, according to the hydrologist.

How the rising average temperatures due to climate change - currently amounting to around two degrees Celsius in Austria - affect heavy rainfall events, especially in the summer months, is one of the big questions in climate research and flood management. The underlying insight is that air can absorb seven percent more water vapor per additional degree Celsius. Furthermore, questions arise about how the additional energy affects the regional system. The stronger warming near the ground also causes the warm air masses to rise more quickly from there. Thus, they cool down faster higher up, leading to more rain, explained Blöschl.

Average Heavy Rainfall in Austria Significantly More Productive Today

Accordingly, it was assumed that short-term precipitation events must intensify. However, this could now be precisely determined at this level for the first time, according to the hydrologist. In Austria, the data even allows for an evaluation of hourly rainfall amounts from the year 1950. In fact, from 1950 to 1980, no significant change was observed. But then it went upwards for more than 40 years: "An average heavy rainfall brought 15 percent more water in the period from 2003 to 2023 than an average heavy rainfall in the period from 1950 to 1970," said lead author Klaus Haslinger from Geosphere Austria in a release. This development is less related to the large global circulations in the atmosphere but is largely explained by the additional energy available locally, said Blöschl: "This also means that it happens more or less everywhere outside the tropics in a similar way. This is the first study worldwide to show this."

Smaller Increase in Extreme Daily Amounts

The fact that short-term heavy rainfall events are particularly more intense is shown by the fact that the amount of rain within an entire day during extreme events increased by only eight percent from the 1990s to the 2010s. So if short-term precipitation events increase more strongly than longer-lasting intensive rain phases, it also means that different regions are affected differently by floods. According to the study results, more flash floods caused by severe thunderstorms lasting one or two hours and floods in smaller river basins are to be expected in the future. This is also already evident in the domestic flood data. "But such events do not produce floods in the Danube," said Blöschl. This means that more thought should be given to regional flood protection in smaller areas, and it should be precisely analyzed how even more intense, short heavy rainfall events affect a specific region. Because: Short heavy rainfall events increase in intensity on average across the entire federal territory with global warming, according to the hydrologist.

(APA/Red)

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