By 2100, the frequency of rainbows could increase by up to 5% worldwide, which would be one of the more peculiar effects of catastrophic climate change.
The number of days in the year with weather conducive to seeing at least one rainbow is how researchers measuring the less evident consequences of climate change quantify this increase.
The scientists discovered that as the planet heats, 21 to 34 percent of land areas will have fewer of these “rainbow days,” with 66 to 79 percent experiencing a rise in the frequency of rainbows.
The research team wants to see less noticeable changes like this taken into account in climate change predictions to highlight just how much our natural world may change. While more rainbow sightings may not be much comfort in the face of widespread drought and torrential floods, they are still worth noting.
According to Kimberly Carlson, a land systems scientist now employed at New York University, “I felt grateful that spectacular, transitory rainbows were a part of my daily life while living in Hawai’i.” “I pondered how climate change may impact such possibilities to see rainbows.”
Tens of thousands of pictures of rainbows that are publicly accessible on the photo-sharing website Flickr were examined to make the projections. These photos were compared to maps of precipitation, cloud cover, and Sun angle if the location had been noted.
The team then trained a model to anticipate changes in the global climate in the upcoming years using this real-world data. They discovered that places like the Tibetan Plateau will benefit the most from the general rise in rainbow days are those with fewer populations, at greater heights, and at higher latitudes.
Islands are where you need to go if you want to be in the greatest locations to see rainbows in the upcoming years. Because of their topography, islands like Hawaii in particular will remain rainbow hotspots.
According to atmospheric scientist Steven Businger of the University of Hawai’i at Mnoa, “this is because island geography raises the air during daily sea breezes, causing localized showers surrounded by clear sky that enable the Sun through to make spectacular rainbows.”
The researchers touched on the long common history we have with rainbows, which have infused human culture all throughout the world, going back to ancient times, but they did not go into great detail about how such variations in the frequency of rainbows can alter our views or wellness.
And it’s important to take into account the link that rainbows—as well as mirages and auroras—establish between nature and humanity. Getting people to care enough about their natural surroundings to desire to conserve them is one of the challenges of successfully addressing the climate problem.
Fewer rainbows are anticipated in densely populated and likely smoggy locations, as well as areas predicted to see more dry days and less overall rainfall – a depressing reminder of what we all stand to lose.
The group behind the new study wants to see greater attention paid to the aspects of our Earth system that cannot be touched or easily measured and that may have a more subtle impact on our welfare and sense of connectedness.
According to Carlson, “Climate change will produce profound alterations across all facets of the human experience on Earth.” Researchers should pay more attention to changes in intangible aspects of our environment, such as sound and light, as they are a component of these changes.
[sourcelink link=”https://www.nationalgeographic.co.uk/environment-and-conservation/2022/11/more-rainbows-are-in-our-future-and-thats-a-bad-omen”]
