FY 2000

An update on the climatology and sea ice of the Bering Sea

Niebauer, H.J., N.A. Bond, L.P. Yakunin, and V.V. Plotnikov

In Dynamics of the Bering Sea: A Summary of Physical, Chemical, and Biological Characteristics, and a Synopsis of Research on the Bering Sea, T.R. Loughlin and K. Ohtani (eds.), University of Alaska Sea Grant, AK-SG-99-03, North Pacific Marine Science Organization (PICES), 29–59 (1999)

The Bering Sea is a region of extreme seasonal as well as substantial interannual variability in its air-ice-ocean environment. This chapter updates work on the weather/climate and ice environment of the Bering Sea and its surrounding environs. Topics with extra emphasis include polynyas, analyses of ~50-year long time series of the air-ice-ocean parameters, analysis of a climate "regime shift," and the connection of the Bering Sea environment with interannual variability in the Aleutian Low (i.e., indices of interannual atmospheric variation such as the North Pacific [NP] and western Pacific [WP] oscillations in the North Pacific as well as the Southern Oscillation Index [SOI] in the tropical Pacific).