Global water estimates 'uncertain'

A study published in the  latest edition of Journal of Hydrometeorology has found that there exists great uncertainty regarding estimates of the global water budget  i.e. (the amount of water involved in the hydrological cycle every year). This is because of discrepancies between global atmosphere and ocean models. Furthermore, these uncertainties may worsen as the number of water measurement stations around the world decrease — providing fewer opportunities to verify modelling data on the ground. Christof Lorenz and Harald Kunstmann, from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology and the Institute for Meteorology and Climate Research in Germany, analysed three of the most widely used modern global atmosphere and ocean models, and compared precipitation and temperature estimates made with them for the period 1989–2006 with direct observations made over the same time-frame. Link to abstract available on .http://journals.ametsoc.org/doi/abs/10.1175/JHM-D-11-088.1