Structure of climatic variability of the Mediterranean sea surface temperature. Part I. Standard deviations and linear trends

Interannual and longer-period variability of the Mediterranean sea surface temperature is studied in terms of standard deviations and linear trends based on the 1951–2000 data. It is shown that both standard deviations and linear SST trends in the Mediterranean Sea are clearly season-dependent. Seasonality of standard deviations is characterized by a zonally-oriented seesaw with opposite changes in standard deviations in the western and eastern parts of the basin from season to season. The SST trend seasonality is pronounced in winter in predominant negative SST trends, and in summer in positive trends. Such seasonal differences indicate that long-term Mediterranean SST variability has different mechanisms of formation.