Number 123 (Story #2), April 9, 1993 by Phillip F. Schewe and Ben Stein TROPOSPHERIC RIVERS , immense flows of water vapor in the lower atmosphere, can persist for more than 10 days and carry as much water as the Amazon (Geophysical Research Letters, Dec. 1992). Reginald Newell of MIT used satellite measurements of humidity and atmospheric reflectivity to monitor the movement of water vapor worldwide. The resultant maps show coherent rivers of water moving across the globe. (Physics World, April 1993.)