Origin and fate of atmospheric moisture over continents

There has been a long debate on the extent to which precipitation relies on terrestrial evaporation (moisture recycling). In the past, most research focused on moisture recycling within a certain region only. This study makes use of new definitions of moisture recycling to study the complete process of continental moisture feedback. Global maps are presented identifying regions that rely heavily on recycled moisture as well as those that are supplying the moisture. An accounting procedure based on ERA‐Interim reanalysis data is used to calculate moisture recycling ratios. It is computed that, on average, 40% of the terrestrial precipitation originates from land evaporation and that 57% of all terrestrial…