UC San Diego–led research shows that understanding where rain comes from could reshape drought planning and land management across the globe.
UC San Diego–led research shows that understanding where rain comes from could reshape drought planning and land management across the globe.
A new University of California San Diego study uncovers a hidden driver of global crop vulnerability: the origin of rainfall itself.
Published in Nature Sustainability, the research traces atmospheric moisture back to its source—whether it evaporated from the ocean or from land surfaces such as soil, lakes and forests. When the sun heats these surfaces, water turns into vapor, rises into the atmosphere, and later falls again as rain.
Ocean-sourced moisture travels long distances on global winds, often through large-scale weather systems such as atmospheric rivers, monsoons, and tropical storms. In contrast, land-sourced moisture—often called recycled rainfall—comes from water that evaporates nearby soils and vegetation, feeding local storms. The study finds that this balance between oceanic and terrestrial (land) sources strongly influences a region’s drought risk and crop productivity.
Read More: University of California - San Diego
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