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Temperature trends in the Canadian arctic during 1895–2014

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Abstract

The average January, July and annual temperatures were examined at 27 stations located in the Canadian Arctic. Some of these stations have temperature records extending as far back as 1895. Nearly all stations exhibited warming trends. For each station, the difference between the temperatures relative to the average value found during 1961–1990 was found. The resulting temperature change averaged over the 27 stations was then plotted to give a time series covering the period 1895–2014. Trends were found for the January, July and annual temperatures of 3.1, 1.6 and 1.9 °C per century, respectively. Similar trends were found in the western and eastern Arctic. The warming occurred primarily in the first and last decades of the twentieth century. For the period 1915–1995, the annual temperature trend was only 0.4 °C per century.

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Acknowledgments

The author wishes to thank the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council for financial support.

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Correspondence to W. A. van Wijngaarden.

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van Wijngaarden, W.A. Temperature trends in the Canadian arctic during 1895–2014. Theor Appl Climatol 120, 609–615 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00704-014-1202-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00704-014-1202-3

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