Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

Atmospheric science

Severe weather in a warming climate

Nature volume 544, pages 422–423 (2017)Cite this article

Subjects

During the past few decades, the Sahara Desert has become even hotter. Satellite observations suggest that this warming has led to a rise in the frequency of extreme storms in the Sahel region of West Africa. See Letter p.475

It is always tricky to identify a long-term trend from satellite observations, because of complications associated with calibration. In particular, the instrumental sensitivity of a satellite can vary if its sensor wears out or if its orbit drifts. When multiple satellites are involved, the concern is with the compatibility of calibrations between sensors that have different resolutions, geometries and sensitivities: newer satellites usually have higher resolution and sensitivity than older ones.

This is a preview of subscription content

Access options

Buy article

Get time limited or full article access on ReadCube.

$32.00

Buy

All prices are NET prices.

Figure 1: Gathering storm clouds in Timbuktu, Mali.

Luis Dafos/Getty

Notes

  1. See all news & views

References

  1. Emanuel, K. J. Climate 20, 5497–5509 (2007).

    ADS  Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Landsea, C. W., Vecchi, G. A., Bengtsson, L. & Knutson, T. R. J. Climate 23, 2508–2519 (2010).

    ADS  Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Taylor, C. M. et al. Nature 544, 475–478 (2017).

    ADS  CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Houze, R. A. Jr Rev. Geophys. 42, RG4003 (2004).

    ADS  Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Mathon, V., Laurent, H. & Lebel, T. J. Appl. Meteorol. 41, 1081–1092 (2002).

    ADS  Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Bretherton, C. S., Blossey, P. N. & Khairoutdinov, M. J. Atmos. Sci. 62, 4273–4295 (2005).

    ADS  Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Muller, C. J. & Held, I. M. J. Atmos. Sci. 69, 2551–2565 (2012).

    ADS  Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Sapiano, M. R. P., Berg, W. K., McKague, D. S. & Kummerow, C. D. IEEE Trans. Geosci. Remote Sens. 51, 1492–1503 (2013).

    ADS  Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Kummerow, C., Barnes, W., Kozu, T., Shiue, J. & Simpson, J. J. Atmos. Oceanic Tech. 15, 809–817 (1998).

    ADS  Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Hou, A. Y. et al. Bull. Am. Meteorol. Soc. 95, 701–722 (2014).

    ADS  Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Affiliations

  1. Chuntao Liu is in the Department of Physical and Environmental Sciences, Texas A&M University at Corpus Christi, Corpus Christi, Texas 78412, USA.

    Chuntao Liu

Authors
  1. Chuntao Liu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Chuntao Liu.

Related links

Related links

Related links in Nature Research

Climate science: Shifting storms

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Liu, C. Severe weather in a warming climate. Nature 544, 422–423 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/544422a

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/544422a

Further reading

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing