Climatic Variability and Sea Surface Temperature in East Asian Marginal Seas

The marginal seas bordering East Asia, including the Bohai Sea, Yellow Sea, East China Sea and Taiwan Strait, occupy a climatically sensitive zone where monsoonal winds, ocean currents and large‐scale climate oscillations converge. Sea surface temperature (SST) in these regions exhibits pronounced seasonal cycles, interannual variability and long‐term trends that reflect both natural modes of variability and anthropogenic warming. Winter monsoon strength and the extent of the Kuroshio and Taiwan Warm Currents modulate surface heat fluxes and upwelling intensity, creating spatial gradients in warming rates. Superimposed on this, teleconnections associated with El Niño–Southern Oscillation, the Pacific Decadal Oscillation and the Interdecadal Pacific Oscillation drive episodic regime shifts and anomalies, including warming hiatuses and subsequent reaccelerations. Recent decades have seen accelerated warming in offshore China, amplified winter warming in coastal waters and an asymmetric response of extreme hot and cold SST events. These changes have profound implications for marine ecosystems, fisheries, harmful algal blooms and coastal climate impacts across East Asia and beyond.

Research from Nature Portfolio

Studies have identified a marked reacceleration of offshore China surface warming since 2011, at roughly twice the global mean rate. This rebound emerged following a cooling phase around the late 1990s and has been linked to changes in tropical Pacific sea level pressure anomalies and southerly wind anomalies that enhance advection of warm waters into the East China Sea. Analysis of extreme SST indices during the recent warming hiatus has revealed an asymmetric pattern: cold‐extreme days increased in frequency and intensity more sharply than hot extremes decreased, while the number and severity of hot days have nonetheless risen relative to earlier decades. This uneven response of SST extremes highlights regional sensitivity to subtle shifts in oceanic and atmospheric conditions, with potential consequences for ecosystem resilience and thermal stress on marine species.

Climatic Variability and Sea Surface Temperature in East Asian Marginal Seas publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in climatic variability and sea surface temperature in east asian marginal seas across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Sea Surface Temperature (SST): Temperature of the uppermost layer of the ocean, measured by satellite or in situ sensors and used as an indicator of climate variability.

Marginal Seas: Semi‐enclosed coastal seas adjoining a continent, often sensitive to regional climate drivers and exchange with adjacent open oceans.

Upwelling: The upward movement of colder, nutrient‐rich deep water to the surface, driven by wind or current divergence, which influences SST and marine productivity.

Monsoon: Seasonal reversal of prevailing winds, especially the East Asian winter and summer monsoons, which modulate surface heat fluxes and regional SST patterns.

Teleconnection: Atmospheric or oceanic linkage between distant regions, whereby anomalies in one area influence weather and climate in another, for example via ENSO.

Interdecadal Pacific Oscillation (IPO): A long‐term oscillation in Pacific Ocean SST patterns that alternately enhances or counteracts global warming trends over multi‐decadal periods.

References

1. The Mechanism Driving a HAB-Induced SST Warming Anomaly: A Case Study in the Beibu Gulf. Ocean-Land-Atmosphere Research (2023).
2. The Weakened Upwelling at the Upstream Kuroshio in the East China Sea Induced Extensive Sea Surface Warming. Geophysical Research Letters (2023).
3. Surface warming reacceleration in offshore China and its interdecadal effects on the East Asia–Pacific climate. Scientific Reports (2020).
4. Enhanced winter warming in the Eastern China Coastal Waters and its relationship with ENSO. Atmospheric Science Letters (2016).
5. An asymmetric variation of hot and cold SST extremes in the China Seas during the recent warming hiatus period. Scientific Reports (2021).