The transition of the sea surface temperature long-term trend in the Yellow and East China Seas in the late 1990s: Effects of the North Pacific regime shift

Abstract

The Yellow and East China Seas (YECS) are widely believed to have experienced a robust warming since the 1980s. However, after the warming reached its peak in the late 1990s, the sea surface temperature (SST) reveals a basin-scale cooling trend in the YECS. To understand the mechanism of the decadal transition in the YECS SST, this study investigates its relationship with the large-scale climate variability around the YECS by using a basin mode of YECS SST estimated from the optimum interpolation SST (OISST) for 33 years (1982-2014).rend in the YECS. To understand the mechanism of the decadal transition in the YECS SST, this study investigates its relationship with the large-scale climate variability around the YECS by using a basin mode of YECS SST estimated from the optimum interpolation SST (OISST) for 33 years (1982-2014).