Relationship Between Arctic Sea Ice Thickness Distributionand Climate of China

Based on the simulated ice thickness data from 1949 to 1999, monthly mean temperature data from 160stations, and monthly mean 1°×1° precipitation data reconstructed from 749 stations in China from 1951 to2000, the relationship between the Arctic sea ice thickness distribution and the climate of China is analyzedby using the singular value decomposition method. Climate patterns of temperature and precipitation areobtained through the rotated empirical orthogonal function analysis. The results are as follows. (1) Sea icein Arctic Ocean has a decreasing trend as a whole, and varies with two major periods of 12-14 and 16-20yr, respectively. (2) When sea ice is thicker in central Arctic Ocean and Beaufort-Chukchi Seas, thinner inBarents-Kara Seas and Baffin Bay-Labrador Sea, precipitation is less in southern China, Tibetan Plateau,and the north part of northeastern China than normal, and vice versa. (3) When sea ice is thinner in thewhole Arctic seas, precipitation is less over the middle and lower reaches of Yellow River and north part ofnortheastern China, more in Tibetan Plateau and south part of northeastern China than normal, and thereverse is also true. (4) When sea ice is thinner in central Arctic Ocean, East Siberian Sea, Beaufort-ChukchiSeas, and Greenland Sea; and thicker in Baffin Bay-Labrador Sea, air temperature is higher in northeasternChina, southern Tibetan Plateau, and Hainan Island than normal. (5) When sea ice is thicker in EastSiberian Sea 5 months earlier, thinner in Baffin Bay-Labrador Sea 7-15 months earlier, air temperature islower over the north of Tibetan Plateau and higher in the north part of northwestern China than normal,and a reverse correlation also exists.