Recent Changes in Temperature and Maximum Snow Cover Days over the Northern Hemisphere with a Focus on Alaska

Abstract

One aspect of climate variability is the shift in seasonal change, with a given season arriving early or late. However, this shift in season is location-dependent and affects local ecology. Over subpolar regions, the change in temperature is very much associated with the regional and local variability of snow-caps, sea ice near the pole, pole-ward transportation of heat, cloud cover, and wind circulation. Based on a 36-year analysis of skin temperature, we found that the lowest temperature occurred in March rather than in February. Additionally, the maximum snow cover day has shifted from March 12 to March 17 in the last 3 to 4 decades. A plausible reason for the late accumulation of ice/snow over the Arctic/Alaskan region may be due to the multi-scale interactions between multi-decadal oscillations, for example, North Atlantic Oscillations (NAO) and climate change.