Murray Foubister / Wikimedia Commons Contrast in surface temperatures can worsen storms like this one in Australia, 2009Murray Foubister / Wikimedia Commons
In 2024, West and Central Africa suffered their worst floods in recent history, leading to more than 1,000 deaths and 500,000 people displaced. Heavy rainfall in India damaged around 800 homes, injured 300 people, and killed five. In Argentina, a storm in March this year killed 13 people, left more than 1,000 homeless, and destroyed several roads and bridges. The UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (UKCEH) found that soil moisture differences over a range of hundreds of kilometers can increase the area and amount of rainfall by as much as 30%, as well as worsening its effects in some regions. A greater contrast in soil moisture increases differences in air temperatures, changes wind direction or speed, and produces rainfall over a larger area. The findings are based on 20 years of satellite data on storms and soil moisture in West Africa, South Africa, India, and South America. Since surface conditions that influence precipitation can be observed two to five days before a storm forms, the approach could be used to issue early flash flood warnings, thus saving lives and preventing damage (Nature Geoscience, April 4).
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