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News From the Field

Earth's Most Prominent Rainfall Feature Creeping Northward


June 30, 2009

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The rain band near the equator that determines the supply of fresh water to nearly a billion people throughout the tropics and subtropics has been creeping north for more than 300 years. If the band continues to migrate at just less than a mile a year, which is the average for all the years it has been moving north, then some Pacific islands near the equator may be starved of fresh water by midcentury, or sooner.Full Story

Source
University of Washington

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