A possible relation between Arctic sea ice and late season Indian Summer Monsoon Rainfall extremes

Abstract

AbstractThe out-of-phase inter-decadal co-variability between summer (JJA) sea ice extent (SIE) in the Kara Sea (KS) sector of the Arctic Ocean and Indian Summer Monsoon Rainfall (ISMR) is found to be weakened during the recent decades with rapidly declining SIE in the KS (since the 1980s). However, SIE in the KS and frequency of ISMR extremes are found to have a consistent out-of-phase relation during the rapidly declining SIE periods. A possible physical mechanism for the relation between the late-season ISMR extremes and summer SIE in the KS is suggested, focusing on the recent years since the 1980s.