ABSTRACT
Atmospheric rivers (ARs) — long, narrow filaments of large vertically-integrated horizontal water vapor transport — are associated with weather, water and climate extremes, including precipitation and wind extremes, flooding, and droughts when they are absent. Most work in recent decades has been focused on regional characterization and impacts of ARs, namely western N. America and Europe. Here we highlight the application of a global detection algorithm for atmospheric rivers to illustrate the widespread global impacts of atmospheric rivers in shaping our weather and climate, including highlights from our studies on global evaluations of model simulation of ARs, weather and subseasonal prediction skill of ARs, climate projections of ARs, and the manner they shape terrestrial hydrology extremes across the globe.