Temperature Variabilities at Upper Layer in the Korean Marine Waters Related to Climate Regime Shifts in the North Pacific

Abstract

Temperature variability at the upper layer related to climate regime shifts in the Korean waters was illustrated using water temperature, climate index. Three major climate regime shifts (CRS) in 1976, 1988 and 1998 in north Pacific region had an significant influence on the major marine ecosystems structure pattern. Three marginal seas around Korean peninsula; East Sea, East China Sea and Yellow Sea also got important impact from this kind of decadal shift. We used 10m sea water temperatures in four regions of Korean waters since 1950 to detect major fluctuation patterns both seasonally and also decadal shift. 1988 CRS was occurred in all of the study areas in most seasons however, 1998 CRS was only detected in the Yellow Sea and in the southern part of the East Sea. 1976 CRS was detected in all of the study area mainly in winter. After 1998 CRS, the water temperature in the southern part of the East Sea, East China Sea and Yellow Sea were going into decreased pattern; however, in the northern part of the East Sea, it was further shifted to increasing pattern which was started from 1988 CRS period.