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

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.