Topic VI - Paleoclimate > VI-3-Understanding southern South America (SSA) climate: local to regional climate signals with modern and paleo data

Conveners

1. Sergio Contreras  (Universidad Católica de la Santísima Concepción, Chile)
2. Arnaud Huguet (Sorbonne Université, France)
3. Julieta Massaferro (Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Argentina)
4. Christoph Mayr (Friedrich Alexander Universität, Germany)
5. Josef P. Werne (University of Pittsburgh, USA)

Since the first report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in 1990, countless studies have looked at aspects of climate change. South America shows trends of increasing climatic variability and extreme events with severe impacts on the hydrological cycle (e.g. water availability and water-ecosystem relationships). In southern South America (SSA; <30°S), the Southern Hemisphere Westerly Winds (SWW) and the Andes mountains generate hydrological and vegetation gradients with latitude, longitude, and elevation, which likely varied in the past with SWW strength and location. Climate models project a poleward shift and intensification of the SWW, superimposed on natural climate variability which is less well understood in regions like SSA where meteorological data are absent or low in spatial and temporal resolution. Thus, we need to turn to paleoclimate proxy records to gather data on spatial climate variability and their impact on ecosystems to help validate future climate projections in the region. This session invites researchers in diverse fields, including proxy development and modeling, to examine modern and past climate in SSA.