DOCSLIB.ORG

The Current Mega Drought in Central Chile: Is the Future Now?

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Current Mega Drought in Central Chile: Is the Future Now? IAMAS (Meteorology), Session M13: Regional Climate Variability Change Solicited Oral Presentation The current Mega Drought in Central Chile: Is the future now? Annual precipitation deficits ranging from 30-70% have afflicted most of central Chile (west coast of South America, 30-40°S) for the last decade, most intensely from 2011 onwards, leading to an unprecedented drought in terms of intensity, spatial and temporal extent. The current 'Mega Drought' stands out not only in the historical record but also in precipitation and stream flow reconstructions for the last 1000 years. ENSO is a major driver of central Chile interannual precipitation variability (with La Niña years usually drier than average) but this extended dry period has included both La Niña and El Niño years. Furthermore, the cold phase of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) is also associated with less precipitation in central Chile. Indeed, the last decade has exhibited a cold PDO, but the actual precipitation deficit falls well below than expected considering both the instrumental and tree-ring reconstructed periods. Thus, while the ENSO, PDO and internal variability have contributed to the maintenance of the rainfall deficit, there is an strong suggestion that anthropogenic climate change is partially responsible for the present Mega Drought. Such effect is mostly dynamic, due to the decrease in the westerly winds impinging central Chile. We also note that model- based climate projections for the 21st century consistently indicate a marked drying trend over this region. In this work we also show some of the effects of the Mega Drought in selected physical systems, including natural vegetation, snow pack over the Andes mountains, surface and subsurface hydrology and forest fires. Given the long temporal extent of this events, its effects are distinct from those associated with the intense but shorter droughts that characterize the past century. Author(s): R. Garreaud1, D. Christie2, CR2 Team on Mega Drought. 1University of Chile, Geophysics, Santiago, Chile. 2Universidad Austral de Chile, Ciencias Forestales, Valdivia, Chile. 3University of Chile, N/A, Santiago, Chile. .
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Humboldt Penguin Spheniscus Humboldti Population in Chile: Counts of Moulting Birds, February 1999–2008
    Wallace & Araya: Humboldt Penguin population in Chile 107 HUMBOLDT PENGUIN SPHENISCUS HUMBOLDTI POPULATION IN CHILE: COUNTS OF MOULTING BIRDS, FEBRUARY 1999–2008 ROBERTA S. WALLACE1 & BRAULIO ARAYA2 1Milwaukee County Zoo, 10001 W. Blue Mound Road, Milwaukee, WI 53226, USA ([email protected]) 2Calle Lima 193. Villa Alemana, V Región, Chile Received 19 August 2014, accepted 9 December 2014 SUMMARY WALLACE, R.S. & ARAYA, B. 2015. Humboldt Penguin Spheniscus humboldti population in Chile: counts of moulting birds, February 1999–2008. Marine Ornithology 43: 107–112 We conducted annual counts of moulting Humboldt Penguins roosting on the mainland coast and on offshore islands in north and central Chile during 1999–2008. The census area included the known major breeding colonies in Chile, where many penguins moult, as well as other sites. Population size was relatively stable across years, with an average of 33 384 SD 2 372 (range: 28 642–35 284) penguins counted, but the number of penguins found at any individual site could vary widely. Shifting penguin numbers suggest that penguins tend to aggregate to moult where food is abundant. While many of the major breeding sites are afforded some form of protected status, two sites with sizable penguin populations, Tilgo Island and Pájaros-1 Island, have no official protection. These census results provide a basis upon which future population trends can be compared. Key words: penguin, Spheniscus humboldti, census, Chile INTRODUCTION penguin taking less than three weeks to moult (Paredes et al. 2003). Penguins remain on land during moult, and they return to The Humboldt Penguin Spheniscus humboldti is a species endemic sea immediately after moulting (Zavalaga & Paredes 1997).
    [Show full text]
  • Large Rock Avalanches and River Damming Hazards in the Andes of Central Chile: the Case of Pangal Valley, Alto Cachapoal
    Geophysical Research Abstracts Vol. 21, EGU2019-6079, 2019 EGU General Assembly 2019 © Author(s) 2019. CC Attribution 4.0 license. Large rock avalanches and river damming hazards in the Andes of central Chile: the case of Pangal valley, Alto Cachapoal Sergio A. Sepulveda (1,2), Diego Chacon (2), Stella M. Moreiras (3), and Fernando Poblete (1) (1) Universidad de O0Higgins, Instituto de Ciencias de la Ingeniería, Rancagua, Chile ([email protected]), (2) Universidad de Chile, Departamento de Geología, Santiago, Chile, (3) CONICET – IANIGLA- CCT, Mendoza, Argentina A cluster of five rock avalanche deposits of volumes varying from 1.5 to 150 millions of cubic metres located in the Pangal valley, Cachapoal river basin in the Andes of central Chile is studied. The landslides are originated in volcanic rocks affected by localised hydrothermal alteration in a short section of the fluvial valley. The largest rock avalanches, with deposit thicknesses of up to about 100 m, have blocked the valley to be later eroded by the Pangal river. Lacustrine deposits can be found upstream. A detailed geomorphological survey of the valley and dating of the landslide deposits is being performed, in order to assess the likelihood of new large volume landslide events with potential of river damming. Such events would endanger hydroelectric facilities and human settlements downstream. A total of eighteen potential landslide source areas were identified, with potential of damming up to 10^7 million cubic metres. This case study illustrates a poorly studied hazard of large slope instabilities and related river damming in the Chilean Andes, extensively covered by large landslide deposits along their valleys.
    [Show full text]
  • La Campana-Peñuelas Biosphere Reserve in Central Chile: Threats and Challenges in a Peri-Urban Transition Zone
    Management & Policy Issues eco.mont - Volume 7, Number 1, January 2015 66 ISSN 2073-106X print version ISSN 2073-1558 online version: http://epub.oeaw.ac.at/eco.mont La Campana-Peñuelas Biosphere Reserve in Central Chile: threats and challenges in a peri-urban transition zone Alejandro Salazar, Andrés Moreira-Muñoz & Camilo del Río Keywords: regional planning, sustainability science, ecosystem services, priority conservation sites, environmental threats Abstract Profile UNESCO biosphere reserves are territories especially suited as laboratories for Protected area sustainability. They form a network of more than 600 units worldwide, intended to be key sites for harmonization of the nature-culture interface in the wide diversity La Campana-Peñuelas of ecosystems existing on Earth. This mission is especially challenging in territories with high levels of land transformation and urbanization. The La Campana-Peñuelas Biosphere Reserve (BR) is one of these units: located in one of the world’s conserva- BR tion priority ecosystems, the Central Chilean Mediterranean ecoregion, it is at the same time one of the globally highly threatened spaces since the biota in this terri- Mountain range tory coexist with the most densely populated Chilean regions. This report deals with the main threats and land-use changes currently happening in the transition zone of Andes La Campana-Peñuelas BR, which pose several challenges for the unit as an effective model of sustainability on a regional scale. Country Chile Introduction local endemic species (Luebert et al. 2009; Hauenstein et al. 2009), see Figure 1. UNESCO biosphere reserves (BRs) can be consid- Recognizing that Central Chile possesses great spe- ered laboratories for sustainability (Bridgewater 2002; cies richness and endemism, which are under immi- Hadley 2011; Moreira-Muñoz & Borsdorf 2014).
    [Show full text]
  • The Air Quality in Chile: and F
    em • feature by Luis Díaz-Robles, Herman Saavedra, Luis Schiappacasse, The Air Quality in Chile: and F. Cereceda-Balic Today, with a population of 16 million, Chile is one of South America’s most Luis Díaz-Robles, 1 Herman Saavedra, and stable and prosperous nations. It leads Latin America in human development, Luis Schiappacasse are competitiveness, income per capita, globalization, economic freedom, low per- with the Air Quality Unit at the Catholic University ception of corruption, and state of peace.2 It also ranks high regionally in terms of Temuco in Chile. F. Cereceda-Balic is with of freedom of the press and democratic development. Its economy is recovering CETAM at the Universidad Técnica Federico Santa fast from the last global economy recession, growing by 5.2% in 2010. The María in Chile. E-mail: Monthly Economic Activity Grow Index for March 2011 was 15.2%, the highest [email protected]. value since 1992.3 In May 2010, Chile became the first South American country to join the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). However, Chile has serious air quality problems. Cerro Alegre Hill, Valparaiso, Chile. 28 em august 2011 awma.org Copyright 2011 Air & Waste Management Association 20 Years of Challenge Geography and Climate subtropical anticyclone marks for much of the year Chile occupies a long, narrow coastal strip between the emergence of the phenomenon of temperature the Andes Mountains to the east and the Pacific inversion and a heavy coastal fog (called “vaguada Ocean to the west, with small mountains in the costera” in Spanish). This favors the generation of center of the country, called the Coast Mountains.
    [Show full text]
  • The Mw 8.8 Chile Earthquake of February 27, 2010
    EERI Special Earthquake Report — June 2010 Learning from Earthquakes The Mw 8.8 Chile Earthquake of February 27, 2010 From March 6th to April 13th, 2010, mated to have experienced intensity ies of the gap, overlapping extensive a team organized by EERI investi- VII or stronger shaking, about 72% zones already ruptured in 1985 and gated the effects of the Chile earth- of the total population of the country, 1960. In the first month following the quake. The team was assisted lo- including five of Chile’s ten largest main shock, there were 1300 after- cally by professors and students of cities (USGS PAGER). shocks of Mw 4 or greater, with 19 in the Pontificia Universidad Católi- the range Mw 6.0-6.9. As of May 2010, the number of con- ca de Chile, the Universidad de firmed deaths stood at 521, with 56 Chile, and the Universidad Técni- persons still missing (Ministry of In- Tectonic Setting and ca Federico Santa María. GEER terior, 2010). The earthquake and Geologic Aspects (Geo-engineering Extreme Events tsunami destroyed over 81,000 dwell- Reconnaissance) contributed geo- South-central Chile is a seismically ing units and caused major damage to sciences, geology, and geotechni- active area with a convergence of another 109,000 (Ministry of Housing cal engineering findings. The Tech- nearly 70 mm/yr, almost twice that and Urban Development, 2010). Ac- nical Council on Lifeline Earthquake of the Cascadia subduction zone. cording to unconfirmed estimates, 50 Engineering (TCLEE) contributed a Large-magnitude earthquakes multi-story reinforced concrete build- report based on its reconnaissance struck along the 1500 km-long ings were severely damaged, and of April 10-17.
    [Show full text]
  • Chile & Easter Island 9
    ©Lonely Planet Publications Pty Ltd “All you’ve got to do is decide to go and the hardest part is over. So go!” TONY WHEELER, COFOUNDER – LONELY PLANET Get the right guides for your trip PAGE PLAN YOUR PLANNING TOOL KIT 2 Photos, itineraries, lists and suggestions YOUR TRIP to help you put together your perfect trip Welcome to Chile ........... 2 Map .................................. 4 20 Top Experiences ....... 6 Welcome to Chile Need to Know ................. 16 If You Like ........................ 18 COUNTRY • The original Month by Month ............. 21 • Comprehensive • AdventurousAdventu Itineraries ........................ 23 (p ) g Artes (Beautiful Art) – says it all. Fan À ne arts can spend the day admiring works at the Museo Nacional de Bel and the Museo de Arte Contemporá housed in the stately Palacio de Bell Chile Outdoors ............... 28 before checking out edgy modern ph and sculpture at the nearby Museo d Meet A LandVisuales. of Along the way, take stayeda brea kintact for so long. The very human Extremes several sidewalk cafes along thequest co bfor development could imperil these pedestrian streets. Palacio detreasures Bellas A sooner than we think. For now, Travel with Children ....... 33 20Preposterously thin and unreasonably Chile guards parts of our planet that re- ong, Chile stretches from the belly of main the most pristine, and they shouldn’t outh America toParque its foot, reaching Nacional from be To missed.r he driest desert delon earth Paine to vast southern TOP lacial À elds. It’s nature on a symphonic La Buena Onda Some rites of passage never los EXPERIENCEScale. Diverse landscapes unfurl over a In Chile, close borders foster intimacy.
    [Show full text]
  • Glacier Runoff Variations Since 1955 in the Maipo River Basin
    https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-2019-233 Preprint. Discussion started: 5 November 2019 c Author(s) 2019. CC BY 4.0 License. Glacier runoff variations since 1955 in the Maipo River Basin, semiarid Andes of central Chile Álvaro Ayala1,2, David Farías-Barahona3, Matthias Huss1,2,4, Francesca Pellicciotti2,5, James McPhee6,7, Daniel Farinotti1,2 5 1Laboratory of Hydraulics, Hydrology and Glaciology (VAW), ETH Zurich, Zurich, 8093, Switzerland. 2Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research, Birmensdorf, 8903, Switzerland. 3Institut für Geographie, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Erlangen, 91058, Germany 4Department of Geosciences, University of Fribourg, Fribourg, 1700, Switzerland 5Department of Geography, Northumbria University, Newcastle, NE1 8ST, UK. 10 6Department of Civil Engineering, University of Chile, Santiago, 8370449, Chile. 7Advanced Mining Technology Centre (AMTC), University of Chile, Santiago, 8370451, Chile. Correspondence to: Alvaro Ayala ([email protected]), now at Centre for Advanced Studies in Arid Zones (CEAZA) Abstract (max 250 words). As glaciers adjust their size in response to climate variations, long-term changes in meltwater production can be expected, affecting the local availability of water resources. We investigate glacier runoff in the period 15 1955-2016 in the Maipo River Basin (4 843 km2), semiarid Andes of Chile. The basin contains more than 800 glaciers covering 378 km2 (inventoried in 2000). We model the mass balance and runoff contribution of 26 glaciers with the physically-oriented and fully-distributed TOPKAPI-ETH glacio-hydrological model, and extrapolate the results to the entire basin. TOPKAPI- ETH is run using several glaciological and meteorological datasets, and its results are evaluated against streamflow records, remotely-sensed snow cover and geodetic mass balances for the periods 1955-2000 and 2000-2013.
    [Show full text]
  • THE PEOPLES and LANGUAGES of CHILE by DONALDD
    New Mexico Anthropologist Volume 5 | Issue 3 Article 2 9-1-1941 The eoplesP and Languages of Chile Donald Brand Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/nm_anthropologist Recommended Citation Brand, Donald. "The eP oples and Languages of Chile." New Mexico Anthropologist 5, 3 (1941): 72-93. https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/nm_anthropologist/vol5/iss3/2 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Anthropology at UNM Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in New Mexico Anthropologist by an authorized editor of UNM Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. 72 NEW MEXICO ANTHROPOLOGIST THE PEOPLES AND LANGUAGES OF CHILE By DONALDD. BRAND This article initiates a series in which the writer will attempt to summarize the scattered and commonly contradictory material on the present ethnic and linguistic constituency of a number of Latin Ameri- can countries. It represents some personal investigations in the field and an examination of much of the pertinent literature. Chile has been a sovereign state since the War of Independence 1810-26. This state was founded upon a nuclear area west of the Andean crest and essentially between 240 and 460 South Latitude. Through the War of the Pacific with Bolivia and Perui in 1879-1883 and peaceful agreements with Argentina, Chile acquired her present extention from Arica to Tierra del Fuego. These northern and south- ern acquisitions added little to her population but introduced numerous small ethnic and linguistic groups. Chile has taken national censuses in 1835, 1843, 1854, 1865, 1875, 1885, 1895, 1907, 1920, 1930, and the most recent one in November of 1940.
    [Show full text]
  • Debris Flows Occurrence in the Semiarid Central Andes Under Climate Change Scenario
    geosciences Review Debris Flows Occurrence in the Semiarid Central Andes under Climate Change Scenario Stella M. Moreiras 1,2,* , Sergio A. Sepúlveda 3,4 , Mariana Correas-González 1 , Carolina Lauro 1 , Iván Vergara 5, Pilar Jeanneret 1, Sebastián Junquera-Torrado 1 , Jaime G. Cuevas 6, Antonio Maldonado 6,7, José L. Antinao 8 and Marisol Lara 3 1 Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología & Ciencias Ambientales, CONICET, Mendoza M5500, Argentina; [email protected] (M.C.-G.); [email protected] (C.L.); [email protected] (P.J.); [email protected] (S.J.-T.) 2 Catedra de Edafología, Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias, Universidad Nacional de Cuyo, Mendoza M5528AHB, Argentina 3 Departamento de Geología, Facultad de Ciencias Físicas y Matemáticas, Universidad de Chile, Santiago 8320000, Chile; [email protected] (S.A.S.); [email protected] (M.L.) 4 Instituto de Ciencias de la Ingeniería, Universidad de O0Higgins, Rancagua 2820000, Chile 5 Grupo de Estudios Ambientales–IPATEC, San Carlos de Bariloche 8400, Argentina; [email protected] 6 Centro de Estudios Avanzados en Zonas Áridas (CEAZA), Universidad de La Serena, Coquimbo 1780000, Chile; [email protected] (J.G.C.); [email protected] (A.M.) 7 Departamento de Biología Marina, Universidad Católica del Norte, Larrondo 1281, Coquimbo 1780000, Chile 8 Indiana Geological and Water Survey, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47404, USA; [email protected] * Correspondence: [email protected]; Tel.: +54-26-1524-4256 Citation: Moreiras, S.M.; Sepúlveda, Abstract: This review paper compiles research related to debris flows and hyperconcentrated flows S.A.; Correas-González, M.; Lauro, C.; in the central Andes (30◦–33◦ S), updating the knowledge of these phenomena in this semiarid region.
    [Show full text]
  • Destination Chile & Easter Island
    © Lonely Planet 20 Destination Chile & Easter Island Meet a land of extremes. Preposterously thin and unreasonably long, Chile stretches 4300km from the belly of South America to its foot, from the driest desert on earth to vast glacial fields. On its way, it unfurls into an incred- ible landscape of polychrome diversity, with parched plains, fertile valleys, vineyards, volcanoes, ancient forests, lakes, fjords and those massive glaciers. Bookended by the Andes and the Pacific, it averages just 175km wide. Chile’s close borders foster intimacy: no matter where you find yourself, it feels a little like a backyard. You start seeing the same faces. Stay one or two days too long and it may feel like home. Those who come here would be foolish not to take advantage of the outdoors. When in Mother Nature’s playground, play. The options are innumerable. You can seek out sweeping desert solitude, craggy Andean summits or the lush forests of the south. Surf, paddle or sail your way up or FAST FACTS down the seemingly endless coast. But you don’t have to sweat it. You can also explore Easter Island’s mysteries, stargaze, soak in bubbling hot springs Population: 16.6 million or watch glaciers calve. Or simply uncork a bottle of Carmenere to fuel some Percentage of population leisurely café conversation. below poverty line: 18% Chile is so laid-back that you might get the impression that not much is happening here. But it is. On the heels of whirlwind change, this is a country Unemployment rate: 8% facing up to its violent past and blossoming into a respected regional force.
    [Show full text]
  • Econstor Wirtschaft Leibniz Information Centre Make Your Publications Visible
    A Service of Leibniz-Informationszentrum econstor Wirtschaft Leibniz Information Centre Make Your Publications Visible. zbw for Economics Michea, Alexis Working Paper Puerto de Gran Escala (PGE): The case for a new container terminal in central Chile International Transport Forum Discussion Paper, No. 2013-20 Provided in Cooperation with: International Transport Forum (ITF), OECD Suggested Citation: Michea, Alexis (2013) : Puerto de Gran Escala (PGE): The case for a new container terminal in central Chile, International Transport Forum Discussion Paper, No. 2013-20, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), International Transport Forum, Paris This Version is available at: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/97091 Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen: Terms of use: Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Documents in EconStor may be saved and copied for your Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden. personal and scholarly purposes. Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle You are not to copy documents for public or commercial Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich purposes, to exhibit the documents publicly, to make them machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen. publicly available on the internet, or to distribute or otherwise use the documents in public. Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, If the documents have been made available under an Open gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort Content Licence (especially Creative Commons Licences), you genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. may exercise further usage rights as specified in the indicated licence. www.econstor.eu Puerto de Gran Escala The case for a new container terminal in central Chile Discussion20 Paper 2013 • 20 Alexis Michea Ministry of Transport and Telecommunications, Chile Puerto de Gran Escala (PGE) Discussion Paper No.
    [Show full text]
  • Soto-Azat Rv
    A SURVEILLANCE STUDY LINKS THE AFRICAN CLAWED FROG WITH THE INTRODUCTION OF RANAVIRUS TO CHILE Alexandra Peñafiel-Ricaurte, Stephen J. Price, Mario Alvarado-Rybak, Andrew A. Cunningham, and Claudio Soto-Azat IPBES report 2019 50% González del Pliego et al. 2019. Curr. Biol. • Plastics ↑10 times since 1980. • Population x2 since 1970. • ↓82% biomass wild mammals. INTRODUCED SPECIES MAY PLAY AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN RANAVIRUS EPIDEMIOLOGY • There is evidence that X. laevis and different species of introduced fish may act as Ranavirus reservoirs or vectors for native amphibian species (Gantress et al. 2003, Robert et al. 2007, Bang Jensen et al. 2009, Gobbo et al. 2010, Bang Jensen et al. 2011, Brenes et al. 2014, Chinchar et al. 2014). • In Chile: Mosquito fish X. laevis • 26 introduced fish spp. have established feral populations in rivers and other water bodies in Chile (Iriarte et al. 2005). Global distribution of Xenopus laevis Página 1 | El Diario de Atacama 03-06-19 06(47 http://www.diarioatacama.cl/impresa/2019/06/02/full/cuerpo-principal/1/ Página 1 de 2 Mora et al. 2019. Manag. Biol. Inv. Non-linear X(t)=N(1)(1-exp(-Kt)) extrapolation model • Captured individuals = average of 218.4 individuals/hour. • Population size: 1,162 individuals. • Divided by area (86 m2): density of 13.5 individuals/m2. RANAVIRUS HAS BEEN REPORTED IN SEVERAL COUNTRIES FROM SOUTH AMERICA FIRST EVIDENCE OF RANAVIRUS IN CHILEAN AMPHIBIANS WAS REPORTED IN 2016 • 2011 – 2013. Calyptocephalella gayi Pleurodema thaul 9 individuals 2 individuals Telmatubofo bullocki Xenopus laevis 1 individual 175 individuals TOTAL: 187 individuals Soto-Azat et al.
    [Show full text]