The First Decade of the New Century: A Cooling Trend for Most of Alaska

摘要

During the first decade of the 21st century most of Alaska experienced a cooling shift, modifying the long-termwarming trend, which has been about twice the global change up to this time. All of Alaska cooled with the exception ofNorthern Regions. This trend was caused by a change in sign of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO), which becamedominantly negative, weakening the Aleutian Low. This weakening results in less relatively warm air being advectedfrom the Northern Pacific. This transport is especially important in winter when the solar radiation is weak. It is duringthis period that the strongest cooling was observed. In addition, the cooling was especially pronounced in Western Alaska,closest to the area of the center of the Aleutian Low. The changes seen in the reanalyzed data were confirmed fromsurface observations, both in the decrease of the North-South atmospheric pressure gradient, as well as the decrease in themean wind speeds for stations located in the Bering Sea area.