PRECIPITATION CHANGES
Since 1900, surface precipitation has generally increased in mid- and high-latitude areas,
and decreased in the tropics and subtropics (Easterling et al., 2000). Current models of
global climate change suggest that annual precipitation is likely to increase further in
high and mid-latitudes and most equatorial regions, but decrease in the subtropics (Carter
et al., 2000). However, predicted regional changes in precipitation are far less certain, and
in many areas, the size of predicted precipitation changes due to global warming are
small compared to those due to natural multi-decadal variability (Arnell et al., 2001).