Recent intensification of Amazon flooding extremes driven by strengthened Walker circulation
Year: 2018
Type: article
Abstract: The Amazon basin is the largest watershed on Earth. Although the variability of the Amazon hydrological cycle has been increasing since the late 1990s, its underlying causes have remained elusive. We use water levels in the Amazon River to quantify changes in extreme events and then analyze their cause. Despite continuing research emphasis on droughts, the largest change over recent decades is a marked increase in very severe floods. Increased flooding is linked to a strengthening of the Walker circulation, resulting from strong tropical Atlantic warming and tropical Pacific cooling. Atlantic warming due to combined anthropogenic and natural factors has contributed to enhance the change in atmospheric circulation. Whether this anomalous increase in flooding will last depends on the evolution of the tropical inter-ocean temperature difference.
Source: Science Advances
Institutions: Austral University of Chile, Center for Climate and Resilience Research, University of Leeds, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique et aux Énergies Alternatives, Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement, Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, Instituto Geofísico del Perú
Language: English
Subfield: Global and Planetary Change
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
SDG: Climate action
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $4,500
Awards: Climate change and the Amazon: assessing the impact of climate on tree growth using tree ring widths and isotopes, G196187580, Towards a Comprehensive Understanding of Changes in the Amazon Hydrological Cycle, PP-FOR: Towards Jointly Monitoring Amazon Ecosystems and Biodiversity by PPBio and RAINFOR, The Amazon hydrological cycle: past, present and future, G3152094823, G4488053280
OpenAlex ID: W2891204558