How can a persistent warmer atmosphere alter precipitation patterns within the water cycle?
It can cause more intense and irregular rainfall events
Warmer air can hold more water vapour – roughly 7% more for every 1 °C rise in temperature (the Clausius–Clapeyron relation). A persistently warmer atmosphere also increases evaporation from oceans, lakes and soil.
Because more moisture is stored in the air, when it finally condenses it is released in heavier bursts. The result is more intense downpours and cloudbursts in some places and longer dry spells or droughts in others – rainfall becomes more extreme and irregular rather than uniformly more or less.
The other choices are too sweeping: warming reduces snowfall in many regions because more precipitation falls as rain; global rainfall does not simply decrease everywhere, since total evaporation and precipitation tend to increase; and there is no rule that gentle rain increases everywhere – the observed trend is towards heavy, short-duration events.
Hence, a warmer atmosphere can cause more intense and irregular rainfall events.
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