From Deluges to Drought: Climate Change Speeds up Water Cycle, Triggers More Extreme Weather

People walk through a part of the Amazon River that shows signs of drought, in Santa Sofia, on the outskirts of Leticia, Colombia, Oct. 20, 2024. (AP)
People walk through a part of the Amazon River that shows signs of drought, in Santa Sofia, on the outskirts of Leticia, Colombia, Oct. 20, 2024. (AP)
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From Deluges to Drought: Climate Change Speeds up Water Cycle, Triggers More Extreme Weather

People walk through a part of the Amazon River that shows signs of drought, in Santa Sofia, on the outskirts of Leticia, Colombia, Oct. 20, 2024. (AP)
People walk through a part of the Amazon River that shows signs of drought, in Santa Sofia, on the outskirts of Leticia, Colombia, Oct. 20, 2024. (AP)

Prolonged droughts, wildfires and water shortages. Torrential downpours that overwhelm dams and cause catastrophic flooding.

Around the globe, rising temperatures stoked by climate change are increasing the odds of both severe drought and heavier precipitation that wreak havoc on people and the environment.

Rainfall can disappear for years only to return with a vengeance, as it did in California in 2023, with record-setting rain and snowfall. That led to heavy vegetation growth that provided fuel for the devastating January wildfires in Los Angeles after drought returned.

But how can global warming cause both drier and wetter extremes? Here's what experts say:

It's all about the water cycle

Water constantly moves between the Earth and its atmosphere. But that system — called the hydrological cycle — is speeding up as global temperatures get hotter, primarily due to the burning of fossil fuels like coal and gas.

A hotter atmosphere sucks up more water vapor from bodies of water and vegetation and soil.

Over land, this atmospheric demand and loss of surface moisture leads to longer and more intense droughts, even causing some arid areas to expand. Though rain falls less often, when it does, it's often in intense and destructive deluges.

That's because the atmosphere holds 7% more water vapor for every degree Celsius.

“Basically, global warming is turning the atmosphere into a bigger sponge so it can soak up more moisture ... and then when the conditions are right for rainfall, it’s like squeezing that sponge,” said Jonathan Overpeck, a climate scientist at the University of Michigan. "You get more moisture coming out faster."

Oceans play outsized role

Oceans absorb most of the planet’s extra heat. That causes the water to expand and ice to melt at the poles, raising sea levels. The warmer water also provides fuel for larger hurricanes and cyclones that can dump massive amounts of water in a short time.

In 2023, for example, heavy one-day rains from Mediterranean storm Daniel caused massive flooding across eastern Libya that overwhelmed two dams, sending a wall of water through the coastal city of Derna that destroyed entire neighborhoods and swept bridges, cars and people out to sea. Climate scientists say climate change made that storm far more likely.

Snowpack is diminishing

Climate change also is affecting snowpack, a critical part of the hydrological cycle.

Melting snow helps fill reservoirs and waterways, including for drinking and agriculture. But less snow is falling in general, and what does often is absorbed by thirsty soil.

What's more, because winters are becoming warmer overall, the growing season is longer, meaning snowmelt also is being lost through evapotranspiration of plants. But, just like rain, climate change also can cause more intense and sometimes damaging snowstorms.

“All this stuff is related to warming, which we know with perfect confidence is almost all due to human activity,” Overpeck said. “The good news is, we know how to stop it if we want to.”



Horse Therapy Program in Namibia Brings Joy to Children with Learning Disabilities

Merci who participates in the "Enabling Through the Horse," therapy program outside Windhoek, Namibia, pets a horse on Feb. 18, 2025. (AP)
Merci who participates in the "Enabling Through the Horse," therapy program outside Windhoek, Namibia, pets a horse on Feb. 18, 2025. (AP)
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Horse Therapy Program in Namibia Brings Joy to Children with Learning Disabilities

Merci who participates in the "Enabling Through the Horse," therapy program outside Windhoek, Namibia, pets a horse on Feb. 18, 2025. (AP)
Merci who participates in the "Enabling Through the Horse," therapy program outside Windhoek, Namibia, pets a horse on Feb. 18, 2025. (AP)

Susan de Meyer's horses have different effects on different children. Hyperactive kids learn to be a little quieter around them while nonverbal children are moved to communicate and to bond with them.

De Meyer runs a program in the southern African country of Namibia that harnesses the power but also the gentleness of horses to help children with learning disabilities and conditions like ADHD and autism.

Each weekday morning, de Meyer's dusty paddock just outside the capital, Windhoek, is enlivened by a group of eight to 10 children from one of the special schools she helps. The children ride the horses, groom them, stroke them and often, de Meyer says, talk to them.

De Meyer grew up on a farm surrounded by horses and they've always been part of her life. She said they have a quality that is invaluable: They don't judge the children, no matter how different they are.

"The horse is the hero in this whole situation because these kids don’t want to be around a lot of people," de Meyer said.

De Meyer's program, "Enabling Through the Horse," is supported by the Namibian Equestrian Federation and won an award last year from the International Equestrian Federation because it "underlines the wonderful characteristics of the horse in exuding sensitivity and intuition."

Horse therapy has been promoted by autism groups and those that work with children with learning disabilities as having a positive impact. And animal therapy in general has been found to be useful in many instances, like dogs that help military veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder and therapy cats that are taken to hospitals and nursing homes.

Some survivors of the devastating 2023 Hawaii wildfires found relief in horse therapy while grieving loved ones they had lost.

De Meyer jokes she has "two-and-a-half horses." These include two Arabians — a white mare named Faranah and a brown gelding, Lansha — while the "half" is a miniature horse called Bonzi, who is about head-high for a 5-year-old.

The Arabians are often the most useful for the children's therapy because of their size, de Meyer said.

"It gives them self-esteem. When they stroke the horse, the therapy starts because this is a very big animal compared to their height, and they are not scared to stroke the horse ... and then to ride it and tell the horse what they want," she said.

De Meyer works with children with a range of conditions or disabilities, including autism, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, Down syndrome, those who are nonverbal or touch sensitive, and some who were born with fetal alcohol syndrome and have developmental problems.

She has received interest from other countries in Africa and Asia to start similar programs there.

"The changes that I’ve seen with the learners are significant," said Chriszell Louw, a teacher at Dagbreek School, which says it is one of just two government schools in Namibia for children with intellectual disabilities. "We have a learner that likes to talk a lot. When we come here, she knows she has to keep quiet. She sits in her place."

"Some of them you see they are more open, they are happy. Some of them were very scared when they started with the horse riding but now they are very excited. When they hear we’re going to the horses they are very excited and just want to go by themselves," Louw said.

De Meyer said her program helps with fine-motor skills, gross-motor skills, muscle strengthening, coordination, balance and posture, all important for kids who struggle to sit at a desk at school and learn.

One simple exercise de Meyer has children do when they ride is to let go of the reins and stretch their arms out straight and to the sides, using only their torso and lower body to balance as a groom leads the horse around the paddock.

Some of the kids break out in smiles when they let go and look like they're soaring.

"We make the world different for these kids," de Meyer said.