Current and Future Variations of the Monsoons of the Americas in a Warming Climate

Understanding the details of the impact of global warming on the North and South American monsoons is of key importance for the well-being of a great number of inhabitants of the Americas. This review deals with the latest research on this topic, summarizing a recently published article in Current Climate Change Reports. Combined multiple datasets, high-resolution global climate models and regional convection-permitting models provide new insights on the evolution of the North and South American monsoon under global warming, suggesting a precipitation reduction in the North American monsoon, southward shift of the core of the South American monsoon, and precipitation reduction in the Amazon Basin. These changes are accompanies by increased frequency of extreme precipitation events in both monsoon regions. Uncertainty in the response mechanisms to global warming remains high, especially for the North American monsoon. To make progress, the evaluation of local and remote drivers is critical, for which we need a combined use of regional and global models.