Patagonia, located in southern South America, is a vast and remote region holding a rich variety of past environmental records but a small number of meteorological stations. Precipitation over this region is mostly produced by disturbances embedded in the westerly flow and is strongly modified by the austral Andes. Uplift on the windward side leads to hyperhumid conditions along the Pacific coast and the western slope of the Andes; in contrast, downslope subsidence dries the eastern plains leading to arid, highly evaporative conditions. The authors investigate the dependence of Patagonia’s local climate (precipitation and near-surface air temperature) year-to-year variability on large-scale circulation anomalies using results from a 30-yr-long high-resolution numerical simulation. Variations of the low-level zonal wind account for a large fraction of the rainfall variability at synoptic and interannual time scales. Zonal wind also controls the amplitude of the air temperature annual cycle by changing the intensity of the seasonally varying temperature advection. The main modes of year-to-year variability of the zonal flow over southern South America are also investigated. Year round there is a dipole between mid- and high latitudes. The node separating wind anomalies of opposite sign migrates through the seasons, leading to a dipole over Patagonia during austral summer and a monopole during winter. Reanalysis data also suggests that westerly flow has mostly decreased over north-central Patagonia during the last four decades, causing a drying trend to the west of the Andes, but a modest increase is exhibited over the southern tip of the continent.

Abstract:Atmospheric warming and enhanced melting of glaciers is already resulting in changes in the glacial contribution to run-off in mountain basins around the world. The enhanced melting of glaciers leads at first to increased run-off and discharge peaks and an increased melt season, while in the longer time frame glacier wasting can be so severe that it results in decreased run-off. Glacier basins with a decreasing run-off trend have been observed in south-central British Columbia, at low elevations in the Swiss Alps and in the central Andes of Chile, which is probably a combined effect of reduced melt from seasonal snow cover as the snow line rises, and relevant glacier area losses. In contrast, significant run-off increases are reported in Alberta, north-western British Columbia and Yukon in Canada, in highly glacierized basins in the Swiss and Austrian Alps, the Tianshan Mountains and Tibet in central Asia and in the tropical Andes of Peru. The run-off increase within these basins is closely related to observed temperature rise, indicating that there is an unequivocal signal of enhanced glacier melting under the present warming trends. In future warming scenarios, glacier run-off should start to decrease even in high-altitude basins, affecting water availability.

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