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Relationship between Bering Sea ice cover and East Asian winter monsoon year-to-year variations

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Abstract

In this study, the relationship between year-to-year variations in the Bering Sea ice cover (BSIC) and the East Asian winter monsoon (EAWM) for the period 1969–2001 was documented. The time series of total ice cover in the eastern Bering Sea correlated with the EAWM index at −0.49, indicating that they are two tightly related components. Our results show that the BSIC was closely associated with the simultaneous local and large-scale atmosphere over the Asian-northern Pacific region. Heavy BSIC corresponded to weaker EAWM circulations and light BSIC corresponded to stronger EAWM circulations. Thus, the BSIC should be considered as one of the possible factors affecting the EAWM variation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Nansen-Zhu International Research Center, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100029, China

    Fei Li  (李 菲) & Huijun Wang  (王会军)

  2. Climate Change Research Center, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100029, China

    Huijun Wang  (王会军)

  3. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Fei Li  (李 菲)

Authors
  1. Fei Li  (李 菲)
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  2. Huijun Wang  (王会军)
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Correspondence to Fei Li  (李 菲).

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Li, F., Wang, H. Relationship between Bering Sea ice cover and East Asian winter monsoon year-to-year variations. Adv. Atmos. Sci. 30, 48–56 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00376-012-2071-2

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