essay on type of rainfall

Types of rainfall | Convectional, Orographic, Cyclonic

Rainfall occurs when the condensed water vapor from the clouds falls on Earth in the form of droplets. There are 3 major types of rainfall.

• Convectional rainfall

Orographic or relief rainfall

Cyclonic or frontal rainfall.

Types of rainfall

Convectional rainfall.

• When the sun heats the Earth’s surface, the water evaporates to form water vapor.
• The warm moist air then rises in a convective current. As the air rises, it cools and the water vapor condenses to form clouds.
• The clouds grow and eventually rainfall occurs as the weight of condensed water increases.
• The rainfall is often accompanied by thunder and lightning.
• Convectional rainfall in common in tropical regions while in temperate regions, it occurs mainly during the summers.

• When a warm moist air current approaches a mountain, it rises up the slope and cools, consequently forming clouds.
• These clouds bring rain, most of which falls on the ridge facing the air current (Windward side).
• On the leeward side, the rainfall is very less.
• The area on the leeward side is also known as the rain shadow area.

• It occurs when two air masses with different temperatures collide.
• The colder air mass being denser stays closer to the surface while the warmer air mass rises above it.
• As the warm air rises it cools and condenses to form clouds which bring rain thereafter.
• How is rainfall measured? | What does 1 mm rainfall mean?
• Which is the largest desert in the world? | Top 3 largest deserts

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• NCERT Notes Geography Types Of Rainfall

Types of Rainfall - NCERT Notes - [Geography Notes For UPSC]

Precipitation is the process where the local air becomes saturated with vapour and starts to pour as it no longer can maintain the water vapour in the gaseous form. There are various types of precipitation – Liquid, Freezing, and Frozen.

Rainfall can be defined as the precipitation in the liquid form. There are various types of rainfall based on the origin which are discussed in the article below. You can download more Geography Notes for UPSC from the link.

Types of Rainfall Download PDF Here

Types of Rainfall

Rainfall has been classified into three main types based on the origin –

• Convectional rainfall
• Orographic or relief rainfall
• Cyclonic or frontal rainfall

Convectional Rainfall – Major Characteristics

• The air, on getting heated, becomes light and rises in convection currents.
• As the air rises, it expands and drops the temperature and subsequently, condensation takes place and cumulus clouds are formed.
• Heavy rainfall with lightning and thunder takes place which does not last long.
• Such rain is usually in the summer or the hotter part of the day.
• This type of rainfall generally takes place in the equatorial regions and internal parts of the continents, predominantly in the northern hemisphere.
• This rainfall is usually associated with hail and graupel

Orographic Rainfall – Major Characteristics

• When the saturated air mass comes across a mountain, it is forced to rise.
• The rising air expands, and eventually, the temperature falls, and the moisture gets condensed.
• The principal characteristic of this type of rain is that the windward slopes get more rainfall.
• After giving rain on the windward side, when these winds reach the other slope, they drop away, and their temperature increases. Then their ability to take in moisture increases and hence, these leeward slopes remain dry and rainless.
• The region situated on the leeward side is known as the rain-shadow area.

Cyclonic Rainfall – Major Characteristics

• Cyclonic activity causes cyclonic rain and it occurs along the fronts of the cyclone.
• When two masses of air of unlike density, temperature, and humidity meet then it is formed.
• The layer that separates them is known as the front.
• A warm front and the cold front are the two parts of the front.
• At the warm front, the warm lighter wind increases slightly over the heavier cold air.
• As the warm air rises, it cools, and the moisture present in it condenses to form clouds
• This rain falls gradually for a few hours to a few days.

Types of Rainfall based on Intensity

The types of rainfall based on intensity can be classified as:

• Light rain – Rate of rain varies between 0 to 2.5 millimetres
• Moderate rain – Rate of rain varies between 2.6 millimetres to 7.6 millimetres
• Heavy rain – Rate of rain is beyond 7.6 millimetres

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What is convectional rainfall?

Convectional rainfall occurs when the sun’s energy heats the surface of the Earth, causing water to evaporate to form water vapour. When the land heats up, it warms the air above it, causing it to expand and rise. As the air rises, it cools and condenses. This process of condensation forms clouds high in the atmosphere. If this process continues, rainfall will occur. This type of rainfall is widespread in tropical areas (between the Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn) and in areas such as South East England during warm sunny spells.

Convectional rainfall

The sun heats the ground, and warm air rises.

As the air rises, it cools, and water vapour condenses to form clouds.

Stage 3. When the condensation point is reached, large cumulonimbus clouds are formed.

Stage 4. 

Heavy rainstorms occur. These usually include thunder and lightning due to the electrical charge created by unstable conditions.

Convectional rainfall is widespread in areas where the ground is heated by the hot sun, such as the Tropics. This is why areas, such as the Amazon Rainforest, experience heavy rainfall most afternoons.

Find out about relief and frontal rainfall.

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Frontal Rainfall

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What Makes It Rain?

What causes rain.

Come to think of it, what makes it snow, hail, and sleet?

All these forms of water don’t fall out of a clear, blue sky. You need clouds. But what makes clouds?

Clouds form from water or ice that has evaporated from Earth’s surface, or from plants that give off water and oxygen as a product of photosynthesis. When it evaporates—that is, rises from Earth’s surface into the atmosphere—water is in the form of a gas, water vapor. Water vapor turns into clouds when it cools and condenses—that is, turns back into liquid water or ice. In order to condense, the water vapor must have a solid to glom onto. This solid “seed” may be a speck of dust or pollen, or a drop of water or crystal of ice. Dew is water vapor that has condensed back onto Earth’s surface—on grass or a car’s windshield, for example.

In the cloud, with more water condensing onto other water droplets, the droplets grow. When they get too heavy to stay suspended in the cloud, even with updrafts within the cloud, they fall to Earth as rain. If the air in the cloud is below the freezing point (32 °F or 0 °C), ice crystals form; if the air all the way down to the ground is also freezing or below, you get snow. However, if the layers of atmosphere within the cloud, and between the cloud and the ground, alternate between warmer than freezing and colder than freezing, you get other kinds of precipitation.

Largest hailstone on record. Credit: NOAA NWS.

Hail can cause a lot of damage to buildings, cars, and especially crops. However, freezing rain can be even worse. Freezing rain occurs when the conditions are just "right." Falling snow encounters, first a layer of warmer air, which melts the snowflakes, and then, just above the surface of Earth, a very cold layer, which makes the liquid water “super-cooled,” ready to freeze up at the slightest hint of encouragement. Now, when the super-cooled rain hits colder-than-freezing ground and objects near the ground (such as roads, trees, and power lines)—snap! Just like that, the about-to-freeze rain turns to ice. The ice coats everything with a thin, sometimes transparent, frozen film. As more rain falls, the coating becomes thicker. The ice can become so thick and heavy that tree limbs snap and fall across power lines, or the power lines themselves just sag and sag until they snap.

Credit: NOAA.

Clouds are the key element of the water cycle, since they are the transporters that move water from one place on Earth to another. They are also important in determining how much of the Sun’s energy is absorbed and trapped in the atmosphere. They are thus very important in altering the temperature of the air and Earth’s surface. The warmer the air, the more water it can hold. The warmer the oceans, the faster water evaporates from them. Surface winds also increase evaporation. (Notice that after a rainstorm, the road dries faster if it is windy.) And the more water in the air, the more the sun’s energy is trapped, making things still warmer.

A GOES-16 image of the significant storm system that crossed North America. It caused freezing and ice that resulted in dangerous conditions across the United States on January 15, 2017.

Credit: J. Carmichael.

Together, these satellites provide images and other data about the atmosphere that enable meteorologists (who study short-term weather) and climatologists (who study long-term climate change) to study Earth water cycle. It is the job of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to build and launch (with NASA’s help) and to operate two different types of environmental satellites.

ENCYCLOPEDIC ENTRY

Precipitation.

Precipitation is any liquid or frozen water that forms in the atmosphere and falls to Earth. It is one of the three main steps of the global water cycle.

Earth Science, Meteorology, Geography

Snow in Jubilee Gardens

Snow falls heavily and collects on the floor of Jubilee Gardens, London.

Photograph by _ultraforma_

Precipitation is any liquid or frozen water that forms in the atmosphere and falls back to the earth. It comes in many forms, like rain, sleet, and snow. Along with evaporation and condensation , precipitation is one of the three major parts of the global water cycle .

Precipitation forms in the clouds when water vapor condenses into bigger and bigger droplets of water. When the drops are heavy enough, they fall to the earth. If a cloud is colder, like it would be at higher altitudes, the water droplets may freeze to form ice. These ice crystals then fall to the earth as snow, hail, or rain, depending on the temperature within the cloud and at Earth’s surface. Most rain actually begins as snow high in the clouds. As the snowflakes fall through warmer air, they become raindrops.

Particles of dust or smoke in the atmosphere are essential for precipitation. These particles, called “condensation nuclei,” provide a surface for water vapor to condense upon. This helps water droplets gather together and become large enough to fall to the earth.

A common misconception is that when raindrops fall, they have a teardrop shape. In fact, smaller raindrops (ones that are approximately one millimeter (0.039 inches) across) are almost perfectly spherical. Larger raindrops (two to three millimeters (0.078-0.118 inches) across) are also round, but with a small indent on their bottom side. They look more like kidney beans when falling. Very large rain drops (larger than 4.5 millimeters (0.177 inches)) have a huge indent and look more like a parachute. These extra-large drops usually end up splitting into two smaller droplets. The indents on raindrops are caused by air resistance.

Precipitation is always fresh water, even when the water originated from the ocean. This is because sea salt does not evaporate with water. However, in some cases, pollutants in the atmosphere can contaminate water droplets before they fall to the ground. The precipitation that results from this is called acid rain . Acid rain does not harm humans directly, but it can make lakes and streams more acidic. This harms aquatic ecosystems because plants and animals often cannot adapt to the acidity.

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Home — Essay Samples — Environment — Rain — The Problems Caused by Heavy Rainfall

The Problems Caused by Heavy Rainfall

• Categories: Rain

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Published: Sep 7, 2023

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Essay on Precipitation and Its Types | Water Engineering

In this essay we will discuss about the meaning and types of precipitation.

Essay on Precipitation :

The evaporated water from the surfaces of streams, rivers, sea, ponds, wet surfaces, trees, and plants etc. get collected in the atmosphere and behave like a gas. Under the normal conditions of temperature and pressure, this water vapour obeys the various gas laws (i.e. Boyle’s law, Charle’s law etc.) With the increase in the evaporation, the quantity of atmospheric vapour goes on increasing.

The atmosphere can hold the vapour up to its saturation point, after which it gets condensed on the surfaces. This condensation is the precipitation in various forms as described in the preceding article. The evaporated water thus again returned to the earth’s surface in any of these forms, is known as precipitation.

The major part of the precipitation occurs in the form of rain whereas small part in the form of snow. During the design of hydrological works other forms of precipitation such as hail, sleet, mist etc. are ignored, as their quantities are very small.

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It is the primary source of all water available on the earth and includes rainfall, snowfall, hail and sleet. All water sources receive their supply of water from the precipitation.

The water of precipitation further goes off in the following ways:

(i) Run-Off:

After precipitation, a portion of its water flows over the ground in the form of rivers and streams and some water flows towards lakes and ponds and is collected there.

(ii) Percolation:

A portion of precipitation percolates in the ground and is stored there in the form of sub-soil or ground water.

(iii) Evaporation:

Some portion of the precipitation is also evaporated from the lakes, rivers, reservoirs and wet surfaces in the form of vapour due to sun’s heat. The portion so evaporated is called evaporation.

(iv) Transpiration:

The roots of the trees absorb water from the ground and some portion of it evaporates in the atmosphere through leaves in the form of transpiration.

Essay on the Types of Precipitation :

There are three different methods by which the air mass gets lifted, so as to cause cooling and condensation of the atmospheric water vapour and the subsequent precipitation mainly in the form of rain or sometimes under special conditions as snow, hail, sleet, etc.

Depending upon the way in which the air is cooled so as to cause precipitation, we can have three kinds of precipitation, as given below:

(i) Cyclonic Precipitation:

Such type of precipitation is caused by the lifting of an air mass due to the pressure difference. If low pressure occurs in an area air will flow horizontally from the surrounding area, causing the air in the low pressure area to lift. The precipitation that results is called “Non-frontal cyclonic precipitation.”

If one air mass lifts over another air mass, the precipitation is called “frontal cyclonic precipitation.” Warm air is lifted when cooler air settles down. Due to the rotary motion of the earth about its own axis, the air which rushes horizontally to fill the low pressure area is converted into whirlming mass known as ‘cyclon’.

The cyclone is a very large mass of air ranging from 800 to 1600 metre in diameter and moving with a velocity of about 50 km/hr. The central portion of this cyclone, where the pressure is low acts like a chimney, through which the air gets lifted, expands, cools and finally gets condensed, causing precipitation, which can occur in the form of drizzle, intermittent rain or steady rain. Most of the rains in the central part of the United States, and the most of the winter rains in Haryana and Punjab in India, occurs due to cyclones.

(ii) Convective Precipitation:

Due to the upward movement of the air that is warmer takes place. Generally, this type of precipitation occurs in such places where the ground surface gets heated unequally. This situation may come where one place of the ground is covered with trees or grass and the adjoining place is open and pucca like houses, roads, hills etc. The warmer air will have tendency to rise upward, whereas the cooler air will move to fill its gap. Such precipitation occurs for short duration, in the form of showers of high intensity.

(iii) Orographic Precipitation:

For most of the heavy rains in most part of India, such type of precipitation is responsible. Orographic precipitation is caused by air masses which strike some natural topographic barriers like slopy mountains, and cannot move forward, rises up, causing condensation and precipitation.

But in such type of precipitation, greatest amount of precipitation falls on the winds ward side, and the leeward side often has very little precipitation. The rainfall is composed by showers and steady rainfall. The southern slope of Himalayas in India is the example of such type of barriers.

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Climate Change Essay for Students and Children

500+ words climate change essay.

Climate change refers to the change in the environmental conditions of the earth. This happens due to many internal and external factors. The climatic change has become a global concern over the last few decades. Besides, these climatic changes affect life on the earth in various ways. These climatic changes are having various impacts on the ecosystem and ecology. Due to these changes, a number of species of plants and animals have gone extinct.

When Did it Start?

The climate started changing a long time ago due to human activities but we came to know about it in the last century. During the last century, we started noticing the climatic change and its effect on human life. We started researching on climate change and came to know that the earth temperature is rising due to a phenomenon called the greenhouse effect. The warming up of earth surface causes many ozone depletion, affect our agriculture , water supply, transportation, and several other problems.

Reason Of Climate Change

Although there are hundreds of reason for the climatic change we are only going to discuss the natural and manmade (human) reasons.

Get the huge list of more than 500 Essay Topics and Ideas

Natural Reasons

These include volcanic eruption , solar radiation, tectonic plate movement, orbital variations. Due to these activities, the geographical condition of an area become quite harmful for life to survive. Also, these activities raise the temperature of the earth to a great extent causing an imbalance in nature.

Human Reasons

Man due to his need and greed has done many activities that not only harm the environment but himself too. Many plant and animal species go extinct due to human activity. Human activities that harm the climate include deforestation, using fossil fuel , industrial waste , a different type of pollution and many more. All these things damage the climate and ecosystem very badly. And many species of animals and birds got extinct or on a verge of extinction due to hunting.

Effects Of Climatic Change

These climatic changes have a negative impact on the environment. The ocean level is rising, glaciers are melting, CO2 in the air is increasing, forest and wildlife are declining, and water life is also getting disturbed due to climatic changes. Apart from that, it is calculated that if this change keeps on going then many species of plants and animals will get extinct. And there will be a heavy loss to the environment.

What will be Future?

If we do not do anything and things continue to go on like right now then a day in future will come when humans will become extinct from the surface of the earth. But instead of neglecting these problems we start acting on then we can save the earth and our future.

Although humans mistake has caused great damage to the climate and ecosystem. But, it is not late to start again and try to undo what we have done until now to damage the environment. And if every human start contributing to the environment then we can be sure of our existence in the future.

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Grasslands Explained

Savanna, steppe, prairie, or pampas: They're all grasslands, the globe's most agriculturally useful habitats.

Biology, Ecology, Conservation, Earth Science, Climatology

Little Missouri National Grassland

Grasslands, like the Little Missouri National Grassland in the United States, fill the ecological niche between forests and deserts, often bordering the two.

Photograph by Phil Schermeister

Grasslands go by many names. In the United States Midwest, they're often called prairies . In South America, they're known as pampas . Central Eurasian grasslands are referred to as steppes , while African grasslands are savannas . What they all have in common are grasses, their naturally dominant vegetation. Grasslands are found where there is not enough regular rainfall to support the growth of a forest, but not so little that a desert forms. In fact, grasslands often lie between forests and deserts. Depending on how they’re defined, grasslands account for between 20 and 40 percent of the world's land area. They are generally open and fairly flat, and they exist on every continent except Antarctica, which makes them vulnerable to pressure from human populations. Threats to natural grasslands, as well as the wildlife that live on them, include farming, overgrazing, invasive species, illegal hunting, and climate change . At the same time, grasslands could help mitigate climate change: One study found California's grasslands and rangelands could store more carbon than forests because they are less susceptible to wildfires and drought. Still, only a small percentage—less than 10 percent—of the world's grassland is protected. Types of Grasslands There are two main kinds of grasslands: tropical and temperate . Examples of temperate grasslands include Eurasian steppes, North American prairies, and Argentine pampas. Tropical grasslands include the hot savannas of sub-Saharan Africa and northern Australia. Rainfall can vary across grasslands from season to season and year to year, ranging from 25.4 too 101.6 centimeters (10 to 40 inches) annually. Temperatures can go below freezing in temperate grasslands to above 32.2 degrees Celsius (90 degrees Fahrenheit). The height of vegetation on grasslands varies with the amount of rainfall. Some grasses might be under 0.3 meters (one foot) tall, while others can grow as high as 2.1 meters (seven feet). Their roots can extend 0.9 to 1.8 meters (three to six feet) deep into the soil. The combination of underground biomass with moderate rainfall—heavy rain can wash away nutrients—tends to make grassland soils very fertile and appealing for agricultural use. Much of the North American prairielands have been converted into land for crops, posing threats to species that depend on those habitats, as well as drinking water sources for people who live nearby. Grassland Plants and Animals Grasslands support a variety of species. Vegetation on the African savannas, for example, feeds animals including zebras, wildebeest, gazelles, and giraffes. On temperate grasslands, you might find prairie dogs, badgers, coyotes, swift foxes, and a variety of birds. There can be up to 25 species of large plant-eaters in a given grassland habitat, comprising a sort of buffet where different grasses appeal to different species. Some grass species in these habitats include red oat grass ( Themeda triandra ) and Rhodes grass ( Chloris gayana ) in tropical savannas, and purple needlegrass ( Nassella pulchra ) and galleta in temperate areas. When rainy season arrives, many grasslands become coated with wildflowers such as yarrow ( Achiella millefolium ), hyssop, and milkweed. The plants on grasslands have adapted to the drought, fires, and grazing common to that habitat. Fires, both natural and human-caused, are important factors shaping grasslands. In the U.S. Midwest, for example, Native Americans set fires to help maintain grasslands for game species, such as bison. Fire can also help prevent fire-intolerant trees and shrubs from taking over while increasing the diversity of wildflowers that support pollinators.

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THE WIDER IMAGE

Nepal’s honey gatherers say fewer hives threaten tradition.

Aita Prasad Gurung, 40, cuts a honeycomb as he hangs onto a ladder, while harvesting honey from the cliff near Taap, Nepal, May 29, 2024. REUTERS/Navesh Chitrakar

Nepal's honey gatherers say fewer hives threaten tradition

By Navesh Chitrakar

Filed June 5, 2024, 10 a.m. GMT

Photography by Navesh Chitrakar Reporting by Navesh Chitrakar and Yubaraj Sharma

Filed: June 5, 2024, 10 a.m. GMT

Aita Prasad Gurung dangled off a cliff in Nepal, carefully manipulating a long pole with a blade at its end to cut away chunks of honeycomb after Himalayan bees fled the fumes from a fire set to drive them from their homes.

The 40-year-old wore a white hat with a net swathing his face to protect against stings as he hung 160 feet (50 m) off the precipice on a handmade ladder, braided from bamboo strands, to reach the bee colonies.

“It is fraught with danger of falling,” said Aita, whose community has traditionally harvested honey from hives perched hundreds of feet off the ground. “One must extract honey and stay safe at the same time.”

Now the generations-old craft is increasingly under threat as some experts say rising temperatures brought by climate change disrupt the growth of bees, the availability of their food and even pollination of plants.

“There were about 35 hives last year,” said another member of the community, Chitra Bahadur Gurung, 49, adding, “We barely have 15 now.”

For generations, the Gurung community in Taap, about 175 km (110 miles) west of the capital, Kathmandu, and other villages in the nearby districts of Lamjung and Kaski, have scoured the steep Himalayan cliffs for honey.

Earlier, the villagers joined in the ritual slaughter of a red rooster, separating its feet and feathers as an offering to the cliff god, to seek forgiveness for taking the honey from the giant bees, known to scientists as Apis laboriosa.

The honeycomb extract, also known as ‘mad honey’, for some intoxicating qualities that can cause hallucinations, sells for  2,000 Nepali rupees ($1.5) a litre, but the villagers rule out overharvesting as a reason for falling collections.

The proceeds, split among the group, are drying up as the number of hives declines, said the villagers, although some earn a living from growing crops of rice, corn, millet and wheat.

With less honey available to collect every year, income from the pursuit has declined over the past decade, said 41-year-old Hem Raj Gurung.

“We harvested about 600 kg of honey 10 years back, which fell to about 180 kg last year and is just about 100 kg this year,” he said.

Some experts blame climate change, driven by a global rise in temperatures, as a major factor in the decline, but other contributors are deforestation, diversion of water from streams and rivers for hydroelectric dams and use of pesticides.

Temperatures in the Himalayas, home to the planet’s tallest peaks, range higher than an average global increase of 1.2 degrees Celsius (2.2 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels, United Nations data and independent research show.

Global studies show that a temperature rise of even one degree affects the growth of bees, the availability of their food and cross pollination of plants, said Suruchi Bhadwal of India’s Energy and Resources Institute (TERI).

Research showed climate change was disrupting the food chains for bees and the flowering of plants, affecting populations of both across the world, added Bhadwal, the head of earth science and climate change at the institute.

"In terms of the patterns and what we’re talking about, I think the patterns are the same in Nepal," she said.

Climate change was affecting the Himalayan cliff bees in different ways, said Surendra Raj Joshi, a specialists in resilient livelihood at the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) in Kathmandu.

“Too much or too little rain, intense or erratic rain, and long dry spells or high fluctuations in temperature, put stress on honeybees to maintain colony strength and honey stocks,” he said.

Lifecycle changes in plants also cause early or late flowering and fluctuations in secretion of nectar and honeydew, he said, adding, “The most visible indicator of the climate change is the erratic weather.”

Some experts say floods and landslides can cause habitat loss and shrink the areas where bees can forage for food.

The decline in bee populations spells insufficient pollination of high mountain crops and wild flora, said Joshi, who is also an expert on bees.

“It will also have implications on the rural economy, as honey hunting is a tradition emerging as an important eco-tourism activity,” Joshi added. “Besides honey and beeswax, communities will lose income from tourism.”

The Wider Image

Photography: Navesh Chitrakar

Reporting: Navesh Chitrakar and Yubaraj Sharma

Writing and additional reporting: Gopal Sharma in Kathmandu

Photo editing: Maye-E Wong

Text editing: Sudipto Ganguly and Clarence Fernandez

Design: Eve Watling and Maye-E Wong

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Guest Essay

Oil and Gas Companies Are Trying to Rig the Marketplace

By Andrew Dessler

Dr. Dessler is a professor of atmospheric sciences and the director of the Texas Center for Climate Studies at Texas A&M University.

Many of us focused on the problem of climate change have been waiting for the day when renewable energy would become cheaper than fossil fuels.

Well, we’re there: Solar and wind power are less expensive than oil, gas and coal in many places and are saving our economy billions of dollars . These and other renewable energy sources produced 30 percent of the world’s electricity in 2023, which may also have been the year that greenhouse gas emissions in the power sector peaked. In the United States alone, the amount of solar and wind energy capacity waiting to be built and connected to the grid is 18 times the amount of natural gas power capacity in the queue.

So you might reasonably conclude that the market is pivoting, and the end for fossil fuels is near.

But it’s not. Instead, fossil fuel interests — including think tanks, trade associations and dark money groups — are often preventing the market from shifting to the lowest cost energy.

Similar to other industries from tobacco to banking to pharmaceuticals, oil and gas interests use tactics like lobbying and manufacturing “grass-roots” support to maximize profits. They also spread misinformation: It’s well documented that fossil fuel interests tried to convince the public that their products didn’t cause climate change, in the same way that Big Tobacco tried to convince the public that its products didn’t harm people’s health.

But as renewables have become a more formidable competitor, we are now seeing something different: a large-scale effort to deceive the public into thinking that the alternative products are harmful, unreliable and worse for consumers. And as renewables continue to drop in cost, it will become even more critical for policymakers and others to challenge these attempts to slow the adoption of cheaper and healthier forms of energy.

One technique the industry and its allies have used is to spread falsehoods — for example, that offshore wind turbines kill whales or that renewable energy is prohibitively expensive — to stop projects from getting built. What appear to be ordinary concerned citizens or groups making good-faith arguments about renewable energy are actually a well-funded effort to disseminate a lie. Researchers at Brown University have revealed a complex web of fossil fuel interests, climate-denial think tanks and community groups that are behind opposition to wind farms off New Jersey, Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

Fossil fuel interests also donate piles of money to sympathetic politicians who then make false claims about renewable energy and push oil and gas on their constituents even when renewable energy is cheaper. After the Texas blackout in 2021, which was caused in part by the failure of the natural gas system , politicians blamed renewable energy, and have since argued that more natural gas is needed to strengthen the state electrical grid .

The Texas grid could certainly be made more robust. But building backup natural gas plants that should ultimately sit idle 90 percent of the time is probably the most expensive way to address the problem, compared with approaches like paying consumers to cut their energy use when the electrical grid nears its limits.

One of the most pervasive pieces of misinformation being spread by fossil fuel interests is that we cannot run our society on renewable energy . It is true that the sun doesn’t always shine and the wind doesn’t always blow. However, we could deal with this by expanding our existing electrical grid to allow us to move clean energy from regions with excess to those with shortfalls. When that’s not sufficient, power sources that can be quickly turned on and off, like batteries or hydroelectricity, can match supply and demand. In the current U.S. grid, natural gas provides the primary balance for intermittent wind and solar, and we can keep using it that way — in very limited quantities — when we need it. One study published in 2020 showed that we could operate a grid that is 90 percent clean energy and 10 percent natural gas by 2035, which would produce energy for a cost similar to that of a grid with a continuation of current policies.

Alarmingly, fossil fuel interests are also looking to dictate how schoolchildren learn about the environment. Children are some of the most powerful messengers when it comes to climate awareness, so fossil fuel promoters are keen to shape their understanding from the start. They have succeeded in getting the Texas State Board of Education to reject textbooks that accurately depict the effects of climate change and extreme weather.

Fossil fuels do deserve credit for getting us to where America is today — rich beyond the dreams of anyone living before the Industrial Revolution. But oil and gas are not the fuels of the future; they are changing the climate and generating air pollution that kills millions of people each year . They also bolster autocratic petrostates, fuel conflicts over energy resources and contribute to geopolitical instability . Simply put, the industry’s lies can cost consumers their health, their money and their security.

With existing technologies, the United States can largely phase out oil, gas and coal. The last 5 percent to 10 percent of that process may be expensive, but credible estimates place the cost of getting to net-zero emissions within the historical range of energy costs. This means that a sustainable future hinges on politics, not technology or science.

Policymakers must now call out the fact that an industry facing obsolescence is distorting the market to try to shut out a superior competitor, clean energy. Make no mistake: Failure to do so may mean a planet no longer able to sustain human life in the style to which we have become accustomed.

Andrew Dessler is a professor of atmospheric sciences and the director of the Texas Center for Climate Studies at Texas A&M University. He is a writer of the newsletter The Climate Brink .

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