Abstract
An opposite trend in surface air temperature is observed with centers over the eastern Bering Sea (decreasing trend) and the Sea of Okhotsk (increasing trend) during 1979–2015. The present study analyzes the reasons for the formation of the contrasting surface air temperature trends in the above two regions. Analysis shows that downward longwave radiation and anomalous meridional advection are two major terms for surface air temperature trends in the above regions. The surface turbulent heat flux trends are results of surface air temperature trends. The cooling trend over the eastern Bering Sea is related to the cloud cover decreasing trend and northerly wind trend. The former reduces downward longwave radiation, and the latter leads to anomalous cold advection. The warming trend over the Sea of Okhotsk is associated with the cloud cover increase that leads to downward longwave radiation increase and the southerly wind trend that induces anomalous warm advection. The cloud changes are related to anticyclonic wind changes over the northern North Pacific. The surface air temperature increasing trends appear to contribute to the sea ice decreasing trends in the Sea of Okhotsk. The present analysis suggests an important role of atmospheric circulation changes in the formation of opposite March surface air temperature trends over the eastern Bering Sea and the Sea of Okhotsk.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bengtsson L, Semenov VA, Johannessen OM (2004) The early twentieth-century warming in the Arctic-A possible mechanism. J Clim 17:4045–4057. https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0442(2004)017<4045:TETWIT>2.0.CO;2
Cavalieri DJ, Parkinson CL (1987) On the relationship between atmospheric circulation and fluctuations in sea ice extents of the Bering and Okhotsk Seas. J Geophys Res 92:7141–7162. https://doi.org/10.1029/JC092iC07p07141
Cavalieri DJ, Parkinson CL (2012) Arctic sea ice variability and trends, 1979–2010. Cryosphere 6:881–889. https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-6-881-2012
Comiso JC, Parkinson CL, Gersten R, Stock L (2008) Accelerated decline in the Arctic Sea ice cover. Geophys Res Lett 35:L01703. https://doi.org/10.1029/2007GL031972
Deser C, Teng H (2008) Evolution of Arctic Sea ice concentration trends and the role of atmospheric circulation forcing, 1979–2007. Geophys Res Lett 35:L02504. https://doi.org/10.1029/2007GL032023
Fang ZF, Wallace JM (1994) Arctic Sea ice variability on a time-scale of weeks and its relation to atmospheric forcing. J Clim 7:1897–1914. https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0442(1994)007<1897:ASIVOA>2.0.CO;2
Francis JA, Hunter E (2007) Drivers of declining sea ice in the Arctic winter: a tale of two seas. Geophys Res Lett 34:L17503. https://doi.org/10.1029/2007GL030995
Gong TT, Feldstein S, Lee SY (2017) The role of downward infrared radiation in the recent Arctic winter warming trend. J Clim 30:4937–4949. https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-16-0180.1
Kanamitsu M, Ebisuzaki W, Woollen J, Yang SK, Hnilo JJ, Fiorino M, Potter GL (2002) NCEP–DOE AMIP-II reanalysis (R-2). Bull Am Meteorol Soc 83:1631–1643
Lee S, Gong T, Feldstein SB, Screen JA, Simmonds I (2017) Revisiting the cause of the 1989–2009 Arctic surface warming using the surface energy budget: downward infrared radiation dominates the surface fluxes. Geophys Res Lett 44:10654–10661. https://doi.org/10.1002/2017GL075375
Lesins G, Duck TJ, Drummond JR (2012) Surface energy balance framework for Arctic amplification of climate change. J Clim 25:8277–8288. https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-11-00711.1
Liu J, Zhang Z, Horton RM, Wang C, Ren X (2007) Variability of North Pacific sea ice and East Asia–North Pacific winter climate. J Clim 20:1991–2001. https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI4105.1
Parkinson CL, Cavalieri DJ (2008) Arctic Sea ice variability and trends, 1979–2006. J Geophys Res 113:C07003. https://doi.org/10.1029/2007JC004558
Polyakov I, Timokhov L, Alexeev V, Bacon S, Dmitrenko I et al (2010) Arctic Ocean warming contributes to reduced polar ice cap. J Phys Oceanogr 40:2743–2756. https://doi.org/10.1175/2010JPO4339.1
Rayner NA, Parker BE, Horton EB, Folland CK, Alexander LV, Rowell DP, Kent EC, Kaplan A (2003) Global analyses of sea surface temperature, sea ice, and night marine air temperature since the late nineteenth century. J Geophys Res 108(D14):4407. https://doi.org/10.1029/2002JD002670
Santer BD, Wigley TML, Boyle JS, Gaffen DJ, Hnilo JJ, Nychka D, Parker DE, Taylor KE (2000) Statistical significance of trends and trend differences in layer-average atmospheric temperature time series. J Geophys Res 105(D6):7337–7356. https://doi.org/10.1029/1999JD901105
Screen JA, Simmonds I (2010a) The central role of diminishing sea ice in recent Arctic temperature amplification. Nature 464:1334–1337. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature09051
Screen JA, Simmonds I (2010b) Increasing fall-winter energy loss from the Arctic Ocean and its role in Arctic temperature amplification. Geophys Res Lett 37:L16797. https://doi.org/10.1029/2010GL044136
Serreze MC, Holland MM, Stroeve J (2007) Perspectives on the Arctic’s shrinking sea-ice cover. Science 315:1533–1536. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1139426
Serreze MC, Barrett AP, Stroeve JC, Kindig DN, Holland MM (2009) The emergence of surface-based Arctic amplification. Cryosphere 3:11–19. https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-3-11-2009
Stroeve JC, Serreze MC, Holland MM, Kay JE, Malanik J, Barrett AP (2012) The Arctic’s rapidly shrinking sea ice cover: a research synthesis. Climate Change 110:1005–1027. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10684-011-0101-1
Ukita J et al (2007) Northern Hemisphere sea ice variability: lag structure and its implications. Tellus 59:261–272. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0870.2006.00223.x
Wu R, Chen Z (2016) An interdecadal increase in the Bering Sea ice cover in 2007. Front Earth Sci 4:26. https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2016.00026
Yang X-Y, Yuan X (2014) The early winter sea ice variability under the recent Arctic climate shift. J Clim 27:5092–5110. https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-13-00536.1
Acknowledgements
We appreciate the comments of two anonymous reviewers. This study is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China grants (41530425, 41475081, and 41705051). The NCEP-DOE reanalysis data were obtained from NOAA via ftp at ftp.cdc.noaa.gov. The HadISST data were obtained from http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/hadobs/hadisst.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Chen, Z., Wu, R. Formation of contrasting March surface air temperature trends in the eastern Bering Sea and the Sea of Okhotsk during 1979–2015. Theor Appl Climatol 137, 1467–1477 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00704-018-2685-0
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00704-018-2685-0