How Can We Explain Extreme Rainfall in a Warming Climate?

Sarosh Alam Ghausi

In this video, SAROSH ALAM GHAUSI investigates why observed extreme rainfall patterns in warm regions often contradict theoretical expectations. By correcting for the cooling effect of clouds during rain events—using a satellite-based surface energy balance model—he reveals that extreme rainfall does in fact intensify with rising temperatures, aligning with climate theory. The study shows positive rainfall–temperature sensitivities globally, particularly in the tropics, and underscores the urgent need for adaptation as the hydrological cycle becomes more extreme with warming.

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21036/LTPUB101200

Researcher

Sarosh Alam Ghausi is a postdoctoral researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry, where he also completed his PhD in collaboration with the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (2020–2024). His work focuses on hydro-climatology, particularly extreme weather events and land-atmosphere interactions. Ghausi develops physics-based Earth system models that incorporate thermodynamic constraints to study temperature variability, turbulent exchange, and hydrologic sensitivity. He has held a visiting research position at Harvard and holds degrees in Water Resource Engineering from IIT Bombay and Civil Engineering from AMU, India.

Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry

The research is dedicated to the study of global biogeochemical cycles and their long-term interactions with the biosphere, the atmosphere, the geosphere and the entire climate system. We want to better understand how living organisms - including humans - exchange basic resources such as water, carbon, nitrogen and energy with their environment and how this affects global climate and ecosystems. Biogeochemistry is the science of the Earth's metabolism. Elements essential to life such as carbon, nitrogen, oxygen and phosphorus are constantly undergoing biological, chemical and physical transformations as they are exchanged between different parts of the Earth, the lithosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere and atmosphere. The "biogeochemical cycles" quantitatively describe the distribution and exchange of elements between these components of the Earth system.