Recent Trends in Oceanic Conditions in the Western Part of East/Japan Sea: An Analysis of Climate Regime Shift That Occurred after the Late 1990s

Hae-Kun Jung,Chung-Il Lee,S. M. Mustafizur Rahman,Hee-Chan Choi,Joo-Myun Park

doi:10.3390/jmse9111225

Abstract

The western part of East/Japan Sea (WES) is an important area for understanding climate change processes and interactions between atmospheric and oceanic conditions. We analyzed the trends in recent oceanic conditions in the WES after the recent climate regime shift (CRS) that occurred in the late 1990s in the North Pacific. We explored the most important climate factors that affect oceanic conditions and determined their responses to changes in climate change. In the CRS that occurred in the late 1980s, changes in oceanic conditions in the WES were influenced by intensity changes in climate factors, and, in the late 1990s, it was by spatial changes in climate factors. The latitudinal shift of the Aleutian low (AL) pressure influences recent changes in oceanic and atmospheric conditions in the WES. The intensity of the Kuroshio Current and the sea level pressure in the Kuroshio extension region associated with the latitudinal shift of the AL pressure affects the volume of transport of the warm and saline water mass that flows into the WES and its atmospheric conditions. In addition, the fluctuations in the oceanic conditions of the WES affect various regions and depth layers differently, and these variations are evident even within the WES.

Highlights

The western part of East/Japan Sea (WES, known as Sea of Japan) is geographically located in the Northwest Pacific Ocean, on the boundary between the North PacificOcean (NPO) and the Asian continent
The Western Part of East/Japan Sea (WES) is located at the boundary between oceanic air masses and continental air masses; the atmospheric conditions of the WES are affected by various atmospheric pressure systems simultaneously [4,5,6,7]
Climate regime shifts (CRSs) that occurred in the North Pacific in the mid-1970s, late 1980s, and late 1990s caused a change in the thermal energy flowing into the WES through the oceanic and atmospheric circulation systems in the North PacificOcean (NPO) [5,7]

Summary

Introduction

The western part of East/Japan Sea (WES, known as Sea of Japan) is geographically located in the Northwest Pacific Ocean, on the boundary between the North PacificOcean (NPO) and the Asian continent. The WES is located at the boundary between oceanic air masses and continental air masses; the atmospheric conditions of the WES are affected by various atmospheric pressure systems simultaneously [4,5,6,7]. The oceanographic conditions in the WES are related to the oceanic and atmospheric circulation systems in the NPO. Climate regime shifts (CRSs) that occurred in the North Pacific in the mid-1970s, late 1980s, and late 1990s caused a change in the thermal energy flowing into the WES through the oceanic and atmospheric circulation systems in the NPO [5,7]. Climate change in the NPO was affected simultaneously by changes in the intensity and spatial change of the climate factor [13,14,15,16]

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