@article{19839,
  abstract     = {The snow and glaciers of the Peruvian Andes provide vital water supplies in a region facing water scarcity and substantial glacier change. However, there remains a lack of understanding of snow processes and quantification of the contribution of melt to runoff. Here we apply a distributed glacio-hydrological model over the Rio Santa basin to disentangle the role of the cryosphere in the Andean water cycle. Only at the highest elevations (>5000 m a.s.l.) is the snow cover continuous; at lower elevations, the snowpack is thin and ephemeral, with rapid cycles of snowfall and melt. Due to the large catchment area affected by ephemeral snow, its contribution to catchment inputs is substantial (23% and 38% in the wet and dry season, respectively). Ice melt is crucial in the mid-dry season (up to 44% of inputs). Our results improve estimates of water fluxes and call for further process-based modelling across the Andes.},
  author       = {Fyffe, Catriona Louise and Potter, Emily and Miles, Evan and Shaw, Thomas and Mccarthy, Michael and Orr, Andrew and Loarte, Edwin and Medina, Katy and Fatichi, Simone and Hellström, Rob and Baraer, Michel and Mateo, Emilio and Cochachin, Alejo and Westoby, Matthew and Pellicciotti, Francesca},
  issn         = {2662-4435},
  journal      = {Communications Earth and Environment},
  publisher    = {Springer Nature},
  title        = {{Thin and ephemeral snow shapes melt and runoff dynamics in the Peruvian Andes}},
  doi          = {10.1038/s43247-025-02379-x},
  volume       = {6},
  year         = {2025},
}

@article{20348,
  abstract     = {Central Asia hosts some of the world’s last relatively healthy mountain glaciers and is heavily dependent on snow and ice melt for downstream water supply, though the causes of this stable glacier state are not known. We combine recent in-situ observations, climate reanalysis and remote sensing data to force a land-surface model to reconstruct glacier changes over the last two decades (1999–2023) and disentangle their causes over a benchmark glacierized catchment in Tajikistan. We show that snowfall and snow depth have been substantially lower since 2018, leading to a decline in glacier health and reduced runoff generation. Remote-sensing observations confirm wider snow depletion across the Northwestern Pamirs, suggesting that a lack of snowfall might be a cause of mass losses regionally. Our results provide an explanation for the recent decline in glacier health in the region, and reinforce the need to better understand the variability of precipitation.},
  author       = {Jouberton, Achille and Shaw, Thomas and Miles, Evan and Kneib, Marin and Fugger, Stefan and Buri, Pascal and Mccarthy, Michael and Kayumov, Abdulhamid and Navruzshoev, Hofiz and Halimov, Ardamehr and Kabutov, Khusrav and Homidov, Farrukh and Pellicciotti, Francesca},
  issn         = {2662-4435},
  journal      = {Communications Earth and Environment},
  publisher    = {Springer Nature},
  title        = {{Snowfall decrease in recent years undermines glacier health and meltwater resources in the Northwestern Pamirs}},
  doi          = {10.1038/s43247-025-02611-8},
  volume       = {6},
  year         = {2025},
}

@article{20703,
  abstract     = {Glacier melt sustains water discharge from mountain basins during droughts, but ongoing glacier retreat threatens this fundamental capacity. Here, we assess the response of glaciers in the Southern Andes to one of the most severe, persistent, and extensive droughts on record in South America (2010-present), and to projected end-of-century megadroughts. Using glacio-hydrological numerical simulations, we show that despite a mean annual precipitation deficit of 36%, glacier runoff in 2010-2019 remained almost unaltered compared to the preceding decade (2000-2009), sustained by a 10% loss of total ice volume. However, simulations of future glacier evolution indicate that annual and summer glacier runoff could decline by up to 20 ± 11% and 48 ± 6%, respectively, during end-of-century megadroughts compared to pre-2010 levels. Our results project a weakening of the glacier’s buffering role against precipitation deficits during extreme droughts, increasing water scarcity for ecosystems and livelihoods in the mountain regions of South America.},
  author       = {Ayala, Álvaro and Muñoz-Castro, Eduardo and Farinotti, Daniel and Farías-Barahona, David and Mendoza, Pablo A. and Macdonell, Shelley and Mcphee, James and Vargas, Ximena and Pellicciotti, Francesca},
  issn         = {2662-4435},
  journal      = {Communications Earth and Environment},
  publisher    = {Springer Nature},
  title        = {{Less water from glaciers during future megadroughts in the Southern Andes}},
  doi          = {10.1038/s43247-025-02845-6},
  volume       = {6},
  year         = {2025},
}