Journal
SCIENCE CHINA-EARTH SCIENCES
Volume 60, Issue 8, Pages 1558-1568Publisher
SCIENCE PRESS
DOI: 10.1007/s11430-017-9054-5
Keywords
Sea surface temperature; East China Sea; Yellow Sea; Regional climate change; Surface heat flux
Categories
Funding
- NOAA Climate Observations and Monitoring Program
- National Natural Science Foundation of China [41690120, 41690121, 41621064, 91528304, 41476021]
- National Program on Global Change and Air-Sea Interaction [GASI-IPOVAI-04]
- National Basic Research Program [2013CB430302]
- Scientific Research Fund of the Second Institute of Oceanography [JG1501]
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Previous studies have demonstrated that the low-frequency sea surface temperature (SST) variability in the Yellow Sea and East China Sea (YECS) is linked to large-scale climate variability, but explanations on the mechanisms vary. This study examines the low-frequency variability and trends of some atmospheric and oceanic variables to discuss their different effects on the YECS warming. The increasing temperature trend is also observed at a hydrographic section transecting the Kuroshio. The increasing rate of ocean temperature decreases with depth, which might result in an increase in vertical stratification and a decrease in vertical mixing, and thus plays a positive role on the YECS warming. The surface net heat flux (downward positive) displays a decreasing trend, which is possibly a result of the YECS warming, and, in turn, inhibits it. Wind speeds show different trends in different datasets, such that its role in the YECS warming is uncertain. The trends in wind stress divergence and curl have large uncertainties, so their effects on SST warming are still unclear. The Kuroshio heat transport calculated in this study, displays no significantly increasing trend, so is an unlikely explanation for the SST warming. Limited by sparse ocean observations, sophisticated assimilative climate models are still needed to unravel the mechanisms behind the YECS warming.
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