The Variation Characteristics of Temperature in Barrow Alaska During 1925-2018

Abstract

Abstract By using the Mann - Kendall mutation test, Morlet wavelet analysis, correlation analysis, linear trend regression methods, the variation of temperature in Barrow, from the Barrow Airport monthly temperature data, is analyzed during 1925-2018. The whole tendency of annual change of temperature in 94 years is rising, with the trend approximately 2.8°C/100 a. Before 1976, the mean annual temperature fluctuated downward, and after that, it showed an obvious upward trend nearly 9.3°C/100a, which indicated that Barrow experienced a process from cooling to rapid warming. Winter showed the most significant increasing trend among four seasons, with the average rate 4.27°C/100a, which is more than three times as high as that in summer (1.38°C/100a), right corresponding to the characteristic of Arctic amplification. The mutation of mean annual temperature occurred around 2005, and the value of temperature existed in a primary period of 15 years and a sub-cycle of quasi-8, quasi-28 years. At the end, great debates about the truth of temperature rising, mechanisms of Arctic amplification and the effect of it are demonstrated. The relevant conclusions are of reference value to the trend of temperature change in Arctic area and to the comprehension of Arctic amplification and global warming.