Uruguay’s economy strongly relies on the agricultural sector, which accounts for 8 percent of the national GDP and 72 percent of total exports. Climate variability and climate change are the main drivers of the vulnerability of primary production systems. It is therefore of fundamental importance to provide accurate climate scenarios, in order to develop more effective climate change adaptation plans. 

The system of models MOSAICC is being implemented in Uruguay, in the framework of the “Integrating Agriculture into National Adaptation Plans (NAP-Ag)” programme (provide link to NAP-Ag). The training on the climate component of MOSAICC has been presented by Dr. Rodrigo Manzanas from the Santander Meteorology Group of the University of Cantabria, from 28 to 31 March, 2017 in Montevideo.

The training included several hands-on sessions oriented towards an appropriate use of the Statistical Downscaling Portal, which is an integral part of MOSAICC. The attendees worked on small groups and went through the whole process of climate downscaling in Uruguay, from the adjustment of various statistical methods, to their application to future climate scenarios from different general circulation models.  

At the end of the training, the attendees presented the results of the hands-on sessions with several types of analysis and plots. This work on climate downscaling built the basis for the next steps of climate change impact assessment on crops.