The Asian monsoon is the largest climate system in the world. It brings extremely heavy rain to much of mainland Asia. It is absolutely essential to agriculture in the region, but it can also bring devastating floods. Climate change, with its associated increase in carbon dioxide and temperature levels, will have a profound effect upon the monsoon.
Research has found that the intensity of the monsoon has varied over the last 40 million years as the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has changed naturally. From fossil evidence it has been found that the monsoon has been at its most intense when levels of carbon dioxide are high. The monsoon has weakened when carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has decreased — when, for instance, the Earth entered various ice ages. This suggests that the monsoon is highly sensitive to global climate change.
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