Regional Features of Interannual Variations in Water Temperature in the Subarctic Pacific

I. D. Rostov and E. V. Dmitrieva

Based on the NOAA climate datasets, trends, regional features, and possible causal relationships of interannual variations in water temperature on the surface (SST) and in the upper 750-meter layer of the subarctic Pacific with variations in the fields of air temperature, air pressure, wind, and climate indices over the past four decades are identified. The results revealed a degree of heterogeneity of the study region response to the ongoing global climate change, identified isolated areas, and quantified the warming rate in these areas. It is shown that in the west of the region, the SST trends are much higher than in the east, and in the warm season, they are about twice higher than in the cold season. Changes in water temperature and heat content anomalies in the water column of different regions are extremely uneven. The phases of alternating warm and cold periods are consistent with trends in the characteristics of the atmospheric centers of action, climate indices, and different climatic parameters.