About this Research Topic
South America is the fourth-largest continent and home of several biomes and river basins, including the Amazon basin, well known for its associated dense, tropical forest. The climate of South America can be expressed by several modes of variability and associated phenomena, some of them typically linking the continent with the adjacent Tropical Atlantic Ocean, the South Atlantic and even the Southern Ocean. The climate variability on both the continent and the adjacent ocean acts from intraseasonal to interannual scales, promoting extreme impacts in the precipitation, for example. Nevertheless, South America presents different patterns of variability from north to south. Predominant modes of variability include the monsoon regime, the El Niño - Southern Oscillation (ENSO), the Southern Annular Mode (SAM), the Atlantic Niño, the Meridional Mode, the South Atlantic Subtropical Dipole and others.
This Research Topic aims to improve our understanding of the functioning of South America's climate, its variability and possible future change. When studying present and future scenarios, we are also interested in the better understanding of the possible future responses to the still increasing greenhouse gases concentrations in the atmosphere and the ocean imposed by anthropogenic action. We are interested in describing future climate scenarios and the effects of global warming in agriculture, fisheries, economics and other social activities. Since the South Atlantic and the Southern Ocean play an important role in the climate of the adjacent continents contributing and actively modulating the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), we also welcome contributing papers focusing on the South Atlantic and the Southern oceans' variability and on how those oceans influence the South America's and the world's climate. We expect contributions on the physical mechanisms that determine the climate and climate variability of South America. Contributions may be based upon observational, satellites, reanalyzes and numerical modeling data.
Therefore, this Research Topic expects contributions on the physical mechanisms that determine the climate and climate variability of South America. We are generally interested in contributions based upon observational, satellites, reanalyses and numerical modeling, welcoming contributions including but not limited to the following topics:
• Climate patterns and their changes in continental South America and the South Atlantic Ocean at various spatial and temporal scales;
• The modulation of the South America's climate by the ocean-atmosphere and ocean-sea ice-atmosphere processes;
• The consequences of the AMOC variability and change for South America's climate;
• The modulation of South America's climate by remote connections such as the monsoon, SAM, ENSO and other modes of climate variability;
• Atmospheric rivers and the weather of South America;
• New methods for studying South America's climate and climate variability;
• Effects of climate change in the cyclogenesis, storm tracks, sea level rise, flooding and other severe impacts;
• Impacts, adaptation and vulnerability of climate change in South America;
• Mitigation of climate change in South America.
This Research Topic aims to improve our understanding of the functioning of South America's climate, its variability and possible future change. When studying present and future scenarios, we are also interested in the better understanding of the possible future responses to the still increasing greenhouse gases concentrations in the atmosphere and the ocean imposed by anthropogenic action. We are interested in describing future climate scenarios and the effects of global warming in agriculture, fisheries, economics and other social activities. Since the South Atlantic and the Southern Ocean play an important role in the climate of the adjacent continents contributing and actively modulating the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), we also welcome contributing papers focusing on the South Atlantic and the Southern oceans' variability and on how those oceans influence the South America's and the world's climate. We expect contributions on the physical mechanisms that determine the climate and climate variability of South America. Contributions may be based upon observational, satellites, reanalyzes and numerical modeling data.
Therefore, this Research Topic expects contributions on the physical mechanisms that determine the climate and climate variability of South America. We are generally interested in contributions based upon observational, satellites, reanalyses and numerical modeling, welcoming contributions including but not limited to the following topics:
• Climate patterns and their changes in continental South America and the South Atlantic Ocean at various spatial and temporal scales;
• The modulation of the South America's climate by the ocean-atmosphere and ocean-sea ice-atmosphere processes;
• The consequences of the AMOC variability and change for South America's climate;
• The modulation of South America's climate by remote connections such as the monsoon, SAM, ENSO and other modes of climate variability;
• Atmospheric rivers and the weather of South America;
• New methods for studying South America's climate and climate variability;
• Effects of climate change in the cyclogenesis, storm tracks, sea level rise, flooding and other severe impacts;
• Impacts, adaptation and vulnerability of climate change in South America;
• Mitigation of climate change in South America.
Keywords: Climate of South America, Climate variability processes, SAM, Ocean-atmosphere-sea ice interactions, ENSO, Climate Change
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
