Earth Not Only Getting Warmer, but Wetter

The earth, long known to be getting warmer, is also getting more humid, and human activity is to blame, Reuters reports. Findings based on computerized climate models confirmed long-standing predictions that the rising temperatures brought about by trapped greenhouse gases would lead to humidity increases. Only models with "the human effect" factored in showed such an uptick.

The study, published in this week's Nature, also took into account natural factors such as volcanoes and variation in the sun's brightness, but found these insufficient to produce the rise in humidity. The rising humidity is expected to intensify violent storms, especially in tropical regions, which will see the largest humidity increase because they are warm already. (More global warming stories.)