Climate Change Impacts Ice Field: Chile and Argentina Face Water Storage Issues

Climate change is having a major impact on our environment. It's shifting winds and changing weather patterns, causing areas to either dry up or become inundated with water. There are areas that will benefit from these changes, but there are other regions that will be impacted negatively. Now, scientists have revealed that Chile and Argentina may face critical water storage issues due to rain-bearing westerly winds over South America's Patagonian Ice-Field moving southward. This could cause drought in the area and lead to other complications.

In order to examine how climate change could affect the region, the researchers uncovered changes in the ice-sheet thickness in the North and Central Patagonian Ice-Field by using rare isotopes.  In addition, the scientists used a separate collection of ocean cores in order to determine when ice-sheet decline occurred.  They then reconstructed these past changes in a model.

"We found that precipitation brought to this region by Southern Hemisphere westerlies played an important role in the glaciation of the North Patagonian Ice-Fields," said Chris Fogwill from the Climate Change Research Center at the University of New South Wales in a news release. "Our research has shown this ice-field significantly reduced in size when those winds moved southward."

About 15,000 to 19,000 years ago, there was a decline in this ice-sheet. In fact, the scientists were able to determine that this decline coincided with the southerward movement of the westerlies. A lack of precipitation caused by this movement, coupled with additional warming, caused a sharp decline in glaciers with no seasonal recovery.

That spells bad news for the region. The ice sheets play a huge role in the hydrology of the region. It maintains seasonal water storage capacity for both Argentina and Chile. This means that as the winds shift, these areas could face harsher conditions.

"The ice-field in the Northern and Central region of the Patagonian ice-field are highly sensitive to precipitation and need this to remain healthy," said Fogwill in a news release.

The findings could help these areas prepare for the future. In addition, the study shows exactly how a shifting climate can cause drastic alterations to the landscape, affecting people and countries around the globe.

The findings are published in the journal Scientific Reports.