As part of the study on the Mantaro river basin’s (central Andes of Peru) current vulnerability to climate change, the temporal and spatial characteristics of frosts were analysed. These characteristics included intensity, frequency, duration, frost-free periods, area distribution and historical trends. Maps of frost risk were determined for the entire river basin, by means of mathematical algorithms and GIS (Geographic Information Systems) tools, using minimum temperature – 1960 to 2002 period, geomorphology, slope, landuse, types of soils, vegetation and life zones, emphasizing the rainy season (September to April), when the impacts of frost on agriculture are most severe. We recognized four categories of frost risks: low, moderate, high and critical. The critical risks (with a very high probability of occurrence) were related to high altitudes on the basin (altitudes higher than 3...

Se ha desarrollado una propuesta de gestión de riesgo de helada (GRH), para un valle interandino y eminentemente agrícola: el valle del Río Mantaro (VM), ubicado en los Andes centrales del Perú. La elaboración de la propuesta conllevó a un proceso participativo, con intervención y aporte significativo de los principales actores de la actividad agrícola de la zona: agricultores, comuneros, técnicos de las principales instituciones gubernamentales relacionadas a la agricultura y defensa civil, autoridades regionales y/o locales o sus representantes, instituciones de investigación meteorológica y agrícola, entre otros. Se considero cuatro etapas principales en la ejecución de la investigación: Estudio general de la zona de estudio, la evaluación del peligro de heladas, el análisis de la vulnerabilidad/debilidades y capacidades/fortalezas en la GRH del calle y por último la ...

The Mantaro River Basin (34550,08 Km2) is located on the eastern slope of the central Peruvian Andes, between the coordinates 10º34’30’’S- 13º35’30’’S/ 73º55’00’’W- 76º40’30”W. This is a very complex basin due to its geomorphology, with almost 85% of its territory located above 3000 masl. This basin was chosen for an Integrated Local Assessment with a Climate Change perspective, because its strategic location. The Mantaro basin provides a constant supply of resources (water, energy and farming products) to Lima, the capital of Peru. This is the first effort made until now in this respect in our country. In this context, a linear trend analysis of observed temperature data (minimum and maximum) has been performed, using monthly and daily data for the1960-2002 period, provided by nine meteorological stations, with altitudes ranging from 3150 masl to 4413 masl.

A local integrated assessment of the vulnerability and adaptation to climate change in the Mantaro River Basin, located in Peruvian Central Andes, was developed between years 2003 to 2005. In this paper we present some lessons learned during the development of this study, emphasizing the multi-institutional and interdisciplinary efforts, briefly showing the methodological aspects, and pointing out the main problems found.

The present work is part of the "Integrated Local Assessment of the Mantaro River Basin" (ILA Mantaro), whose main objective was: to systematize and to extend the knowledge about climate change in the Mantaro river basin, and to evaluate the climatic, physical and social aspects of its vulnerability, as well as to identify viable adaptation options for the agriculture, hydroelectric energy and health sectors, to be incorporated into local and regional development planning. In this context, the climatic component of the study consisted in the analysis of the climatic characteristics of the river basin: intraseasonal and interannual variability of rainfall over the basin, the relation of regional climate with atmospheric patterns on regional and global scale, the climatic trends in the last 50 or 40 years, and the characteristics of the freezes and the trends in their frequency and intensi...