Recent rainfall anomalies in the Southwestern Pampas Region, retrsopective and prospective view

CAMPO A.; ZAPPERI, P; RAMOS, M. B.

Ciudad de México

Congreso; 2° Congreso Interamericano de Cambio Climático; 2016

Asociación Interamericana de Ingeniería Sanitaria y Ambiental (AIDIS)

In the Pampas region (Argentina), rainfall patterns leaded the human settlement and the productive activities development, especially those linked to the agricultural sector. This productive region is subject to different weather swings which exposed the area to heavy flooding as well as to the most severe droughts. In 2014, the contribution of IPCC Working Group II to the Fifth Assessment Report pointed out that many of the global risks of climate change are concentrated in urban areas and extreme rainfall, floods, droughts and water shortages pose risks to human assets, economies and ecosystems. The study area is located in the Buenos Aires Pampas, bordering the Argentina arid and warm diagonal, at latitudes between 35 ° and 40 ° South .This contribution has as aim, considering the precipitation variability in the area, reflect about its main consequences and relationship with the climate anomalies. It is presented accumulated rainfall distribution of three locations of Buenos Aires province western zone (Coronel Suarez, Pigüé and Bahia Blanca) for the past years. In 2014, it was declared the state of emergency due to the water excesses. The affected area was the 61% of the province and rainfall records were higher than normal values in almost all official weather stations. The solution to floods and droughts is still unresolved in the province of Buenos Aires. Essential infrastructure works, must be necessarily executed with the involvement of different stakeholders, farmers, affected citizens of urban areas and government representatives at different levels.