Biogeographical Consequences of Recent Climate Changes in the Southern Andes of Argentina

VILLALBA, R.; MASIOKAS, M.H.; KITZBERGER, T.; BONINSEGNA, J.A.

Global Changes and Mountain Regions

Springer

Lugar: New York; Año: 2005; p. 157 - 168

Long-term trends of temperature variations across the Southern Andes (37-55°S) have been recently examined using a combination of instrumental and proxy records. Tree-ring based reconstructions indicate that the annual temperatures during the 20th century have been anomalously warm across the Southern Andes in the context of the past four centuries. The mean annual temperatures for northern and southern Patagonia during the interval 1900-1990 are 0.53°C and 0.86°Cabove the AD 1640- 1899 means, respectively. Increased temperatures are seriously impacting the physical and biological systems across the Southern Andes.