trenberth

The idea, Trenberth modestly recalls, caused something of a stir in the audience.

Kevin Trenberth of America's National Centre for Atmospheric Research wants to understand in detail the natural variability just seen.

Near high-pressure systems, air tends to sink, which discourages clouds from forming.

Reviewing results in his lab in the foothills of the Rockies, Trenberth is the first to poke holes in his own work.

Even so, the report "does not carry the authority of the IPCC [Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change] by any means, " Trenberth noted.

Therefore, argues Trenberth, the number of projected future hurricanes is probably being overestimated.

In the 2009 study, Trenberth and his colleagues identified the influence of climate change on rainfall as the main cause of river decline.

Trenberth floated an ideal past the audience in his native New Zealand accent: Could this be due to global warming?

But to take this as evidence that Dr Trenberth questions global warming seems foolish.

Trenberth said because human populations depend on rivers, we need to carefully manage our water supply.

Space-based climate observations are notoriously prone to bias.

Trenberth regards extreme weather as an analogue, a dry run to the future.

Kevin Trenberth: There's a shift in the patterns and the nature of precipitation.