why Kauai was drier after Iniki
If more plants cause more rain, then having our plants hurricaned away just might explain why it didn’t rain much on Kaua`i in late-1992. (Kauaians remember what a huge break this was during those months when we had tarps for roofing.)
This research note from Nature magazine (via Ecostreet Blog) finds a correlation between vegetation coverage (estimated from satellite photos) and rainfall in Africa’s Sahel from 1982 to 1999. When the researchers added the previous month’s greenness to a predictive model based on past rainfall levels, their predictive skill increased by 20%.
Here’s how it works. “Greenery can have a number of effects on a local climate. Plants are thought to transfer moisture from the soil into the air by evaporation from their leaves, and hold water in the soil close to the surface, where it can also evaporate. What is more, the darker surfaces of plants compared to sandy deserts also absorb more solar radiation, which, along with their rough texture, can create convection and turbulence in the atmosphere.”
So, right…more rain spurs Kauai’s lushness. And vice versa.
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