Abstract
The water vapor feedback is the process whereby an initial warming of the planet, caused, for example, by an increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide, leads to an increase in the humidity of the atmosphere. Because water vapor is itself a greenhouse gas, this increase in humidity causes additional warming. The water vapor feedback has long been expected to strongly amplify climate changes because of the expectation that the atmosphere’s relative humidity would remain roughly constant— meaning that the specific humidity would increase at the rate of the equilibrium vapor pressure, which rises rapidly with temperature. However, observational evidence has been harder to come by, and the effect has been controversial. Much of that controversy can now be laid to rest, thanks to new observations and better theoretical understanding.
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