Maisa Rojas

Simulation and Sensitivity in a Nested Modeling System for South America. Part I: Reanalyses Boundary Forcing

Abstract A regional climate model driven by reanalyzed atmospheric forcing is used to investigate 1) the large-scale circulation anomalies that were driven by sea surface temperatures (SSTs), which resulted in extreme rainfall anomalies during January–May 1983 (dry) and 1985 (wet) in tropical South America; 2) the effects of vegetation and soil moisture in the interior Amazon basin on regional circulations, moisture transport, and rainfall; and 3) the sensitivity of regional model results to domain size. Seasonal integrations demonstrated that by prescribing observed SSTs and applying reanalyses-derived forcing along the boundaries of the control domain, the regional climate model (RegCM) was able to simulate the dramatically different large-scale circulations in the two years, as well as the resulting rainfall differences. Thus, the large-scale forcing apparently has a first-order effect on the region. The regional model shows reduced rainfall in the western Amazon compared with observed estimates that a...

CMIP5 Projected Changes in the Annual Cycle of Precipitation in Monsoon Regions

AbstractAnalyses of phase 5 of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5) experiments show that the global monsoon is expected to increase in area, precipitation, and intensity as the climate system responds to anthropogenic forcing. Concurrently, detailed analyses for several individual monsoons indicate a redistribution of rainfall from early to late in the rainy season. This analysis examines CMIP5 projected changes in the annual cycle of precipitation in monsoon regions, using a moist static energy framework to evaluate competing mechanisms identified to be important in precipitation changes over land. In the presence of sufficient surface moisture, the local response to the increase in downwelling energy is characterized by increased evaporation, increased low-level moist static energy, and decreased stability with consequent increases in precipitation. A remote mechanism begins with warmer oceans and operates on land regions via a warmer tropical troposphere, increased stability, and decrease...

Simulation and Sensitivity in a Nested Modeling System for South America. Part II: GCM Boundary Forcing

Abstract A regional climate model driven at the lateral boundaries by ensemble integrations of a general circulation model (GCM) is used to investigate 1) the large-scale circulation anomalies associated with tropical sea surface temperatures (SSTs) that lead to extreme rainfall anomalies during January–May of 1983 (dry) and 1985 (wet) in tropical South America, and 2) the sensitivity of the nested model results to the choice of domain. The nested model is composed of the Regional Climate Model (RegCM) and the Community Climate Model version 3 (CCM3), both developed at the National Center for Atmospheric Research. In Part I of this study, the RegCMs ability to simulate circulation and rainfall observed in the two extreme seasons was demonstrated when driven at the lateral boundaries by reanalyzed forcing. Seasonal integrations with the RegCM driven by GCM ensemble–derived lateral boundary forcing demonstrate that the nested model responds well to the SST forcing, by capturing the major features of the ci...

Southern Annular Mode-like changes in southwestern Patagonia at centennial timescales over the last three millennia

Late twentieth-century instrumental records reveal a persistent southward shift of the Southern Westerly Winds during austral summer and autumn associated with a positive trend of the Southern Annular Mode (SAM) and contemporaneous with glacial recession, steady increases in atmospheric temperatures and CO2 concentrations at a global scale. However, despite the clear importance of the SAM in the modern/future climate, very little is known regarding its behaviour during pre-Industrial times. Here we present a stratigraphic record from Lago Cipreses (51°S), southwestern Patagonia, that reveals recurrent ~200-year long dry/warm phases over the last three millennia, which we interpret as positive SAM-like states. These correspond in timing with the Industrial revolution, the Mediaeval Climate Anomaly, the Roman and Late Bronze Age Warm Periods and alternate with cold/wet multi-centennial phases in European palaeoclimate records. We conclude that SAM-like changes at centennial timescales in southwestern Patagonia represent in-phase interhemispheric coupling of palaeoclimate over the last 3,000 years through atmospheric teleconnections.

A correlated shortening of the North and South American monsoon seasons in the past few decades

Our observational analysis shows that the wet seasons of the American monsoon systems have shortened since 1978 due to correlated earlier retreats of the North American monsoon (NAM) and late onsets of the southern Amazon wet season, an important part of the South American monsoon (SAM). These changes are related to the combination of the global sea surface temperature (SST) warming mode, the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO), the westward shift of the North Atlantic subtropical high (NASH), and the enhancement of Pacific South American and Pacific North American wave train patterns, which induces variations of the regional circulation at interannual and decadal scales. The joint contributions from these forcing factors are associated with a stronger and more equatorward regional Hadley cell, which enhances convergence towards the equator, strengthening and possibly delaying the retreat of the tropical part of the NAM. This in turn accelerates the demise of the northern NAM and delays the reversal of the cross-equatorial flow over South America, reducing moisture transport to the SAM and delaying its onset. In addition, the thermodynamic response to warming appears to cause local drier land conditions over both regions, reinforcing the observed changes in these monsoons. Although previous studies have identified the isolated influence of the regional Hadley cell, ENSO, AMO, global SST warming, and NASH on the NAM, the correlated changes between NAM and SAM through variations of the cross-equatorial flow had not been established before.

Downscaling Climate Changes for Santiago: What Effects can be Expected?

This chapter describes the methodology used to analyse climate scenarios and their impact on hydro-meteorological variables in the Metropolitan Region of Santiago de Chile (MRS) and the results thereof. Using a downscaling methodology for future IPCC A2 and B1 scenarios (and B2 for stream flow), temperature, precipitation and secondary variable trends are estimated for the 2045–2065 time frame. The findings suggest that Santiago will be a drier and hotter city in the near future and have a high number of days with extreme temperatures. Lower precipitation rates are expected to lead to decreasing magnitudes in the stream flow of the two main rivers, Maipo and Mapocho, particularly in the summer months. Based on the data presented below, expected climate change impacts are analysed and adaptation needs identified for the MRS.

Onset and Evolution of Southern Annular Mode-Like Changes at Centennial Timescale

The Southern Westerly Winds (SWW) are the surface expression of geostrophic winds that encircle the southern mid-latitudes. In conjunction with the Southern Ocean, they establish a coupled system that not only controls climate in the southern third of the world, but is also closely connected to the position of the Intertropical Convergence Zone and CO2 degassing from the deep ocean. Paradoxically, little is known about their behavior since the last ice age and relationships with mid-latitude glacier history and tropical climate variability. Here we present a lake sediment record from Chilean Patagonia (51°S) that reveals fluctuations of the low-level SWW at mid-latitudes, including strong westerlies during the Antarctic Cold Reversal, anomalously low intensity during the early Holocene, which was unfavorable for glacier growth, and strong SWW since ~7.5 ka. We detect nine positive Southern Annular Mode-like events at centennial timescale since ~5.8 ka that alternate with cold/wet intervals favorable for glacier expansions (Neoglaciations) in southern Patagonia. The correspondence of key features of mid-latitude atmospheric circulation with shifts in tropical climate since ~10 ka suggests that coherent climatic shifts in these regions have driven climate change in vast sectors of the Southern Hemisphere at centennial and millennial timescales.

Projected hydroclimate changes over Andean basins in central Chile from downscaled CMIP5 models under the low and high emission scenarios

This study examines the projections of hydroclimatic regimes and extremes over Andean basins in central Chile (∼ 30–40° S) under a low and high emission scenarios (RCP2.6 and RCP8.5, respectively). A gridded daily precipitation and temperature dataset based on observations is used to drive and validate the VIC macro-scale hydrological model in the region of interest. Historical and future simulations from 19 climate models participating in CMIP5 have been adjusted with the observational dataset and then used to make hydrological projections. By the end of the century, there is a large difference between the scenarios, with projected warming of ∼ + 1.2 °C (RCP2.6), ∼ + 3.5 °C (RCP8.5) and drying of ∼ − 3% (RCP2.6), ∼ − 30% (RCP8.5). Following the strong drying and warming projected in this region under the RCP8.5 scenario, the VIC model simulates decreases in annual runoff of about 40% by the end of the century. Such strong regional effect of climate change may have large implications for the water resources of this region. Even under the low emission scenario, the Andes snowpack is projected to decrease by 35–45% by mid-century. In more snowmelt-dominated areas, the projected hydrological changes under RCP8.5 go together with more loss in the snowpack (75–85%) and a temporal shift in the center timing of runoff to earlier dates (up to 5 weeks by the end of the century). The severity and frequency of extreme hydroclimatic events are also projected to increase in the future. The occurrence of extended droughts, such as the recently experienced mega-drought (2010–2015), increases from one to up to five events per 100 years under RCP8.5. Concurrently, probability density function of 3-day peak runoff indicates an increase in the frequency of flood events. The estimated return periods of 3-day peak runoff events depict more drastic changes and increase in the flood risk as higher recurrence intervals are considered by mid-century under RCP2.6 and RCP8.5, and by the end of the century under RCP8.5.

A human-scale perspective on global warming: Zero emission year and personal quotas

This article builds on the premise that human consumption of goods, food and transport are the ultimate drivers of climate change. However, the nature of the climate change problem (well described as a tragedy of the commons) makes it difficult for individuals to recognise their personal duty to implement behavioural changes to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Consequently, this article aims to analyse the climate change issue from a human-scale perspective, in which each of us has a clearly defined personal quota of CO2 emissions that limits our activity and there is a finite time during which CO2 emissions must be eliminated to achieve the “well below 2°C” warming limit set by the Paris Agreement of 2015 (COP21). Thus, this work’s primary contribution is to connect an equal per capita fairness approach to a global carbon budget, linking personal levels with planetary levels. Here, we show that a personal quota of 5.0 tons of CO2 yr-1 p-1 is a representative value for both past and future emissions; for this level of a constant per-capita emissions and without considering any mitigation, the global accumulated emissions compatible with the “well below 2°C” and 2°C targets will be exhausted by 2030 and 2050, respectively. These are references years that provide an order of magnitude of the time that is left to reverse the global warming trend. More realistic scenarios that consider a smooth transition toward a zero-emission world show that the global accumulated emissions compatible with the “well below 2°C” and 2°C targets will be exhausted by 2040 and 2080, respectively. Implications of this paper include a return to personal responsibility following equity principles among individuals, and a definition of boundaries to the personal emissions of CO2.

Accelerated greenhouse gases versus slow insolation forcing induced climate changes in southern South America since the Mid-Holocene

This paper is a pioneering analysis of past climates in southern South America combining multiproxy reconstructions and the state-of-the-art CMIP5/PMIP3 paleoclimatic models to investigate the time evolution of regional climatic conditions from the Mid-Holocene (MH) to the present. This analysis allows a comparison between the impact of the long term climate variations associated with insolation changes and the more recent effects of anthropogenic forcing on the region. The PMIP3 multimodel experiments suggest that changes in precipitation over almost all southern South America between MH and pre-industrial (PI) times due to insolation variations are significantly larger than those between PI and the present, which are due to changes in greenhouse gas concentrations. Anthropogenic forcing has been particularly intense over western Patagonia inducing reduction of precipitation in summer, autumn and winter as a consequence of progressively weaker westerly winds over the region, which have moved further poleward, between ca. 35–55°S and have become stronger south of about 50°S. Orbital variations between the MH to the PI period increased insolation over southern South America during summer and autumn inducing warmer conditions in the PI, accentuated by the effect of anthropogenic forcing during the last century. On the other hand, changes in orbital parameters from the MH to the PI period reduced insolation during winter and spring inducing colder conditions, which have been reversed by the anthropogenic forcing.