Climate variability in the Barents Sea during the 20th century with a focus on the 1990s

Time-series  of temperature in  three  sections  representative  of Atlantic  Water  in  the Barents Sea reveal that the climate in  the region  has both  long-term and  short-term quasi-regular  periods.  Compared  with  other  decades  during  the  20th  century,  the 1990s were colder than both the  1930s and  1950s. The  1990s started out warm, with a short, relatively cold, period in  1996-1998.  During the final years of the decade there was a gradual build-up towards higher temperatures, with very high anomalies during late autumn and early winter.  Through regional and local  effects, the North Atlantic Oscillation  (NAO)  has  a  significant  influence  on  the  Barents  Sea  on  decadal  time scales and during extreme  NAO events.  Still, local  atmospheric forcing not captured by the NAO index seems to dominate the distribution of the water masses within the area.  The  local  pressure  field  appears  to  change  the  relative  strength  of  the  two branches going respectively northeast and  east,  thereby having a significant effect on the local climate. The local pressure distribution not captured by the NAO index also has  some influence on the total inflow to the Barents Sea

Article from Marine Science Symposia Vol. 219 - "Hydrobiological variability in the ICES Area, 1990-1999", symposium held in Edinburgh, 8-10 August 2001. To access  the remaining articles please click on the keyword "MSS Vol. 219".