Climatic conditions and hydrological regime of the Sea of Azov in the XX – early XXI centuries

The paper is devoted to consideration of the main climatic conditions dynamics that formed the hydrological regime of the Sea of Azov in the 20th – early 21st centuries. In the Azov coastal region from the mid to end of the 20th century, the trend of reduced wind activity persists, both for average annual and seasonal values. As a result of climate changes, average annual precipitation increased to compare with the first half of the last century. The peak of annual precipitation growth was in 2010, after which a slight decrease is observed. The highest trend of air temperature increase was observed in the region of the Sea of Azov at the beginning of the 21st century (up to 0.08 °C/year). At the same time, for the 100-year period, the increase in average annual air temperatures was about 1 °C for Kerch and Genichesk, and about 2 °C for Taganrog, Yeisk and Primorsko-Akhtarsk. The most part of this increase was due to the growth of average winter and spring temperatures, the least — by the growth of autumn ones. It should be noted that, since 2010, there has been a decrease in temperature growth rate in the Sea of Azov region. The growth of annual water temperatures near the coast of the Sea of Azov is about 1 °С for 100 years. The average ice cover of the Sea of Azov reduced almost by half: from 30 % in the 1980s down to 16 % at the beginning of the 21st century. In the century-long series of observations of the Sea of Azov salinity, there is a clear rotation of desalination and salinization periods. Since 2007, the sea is in yet another period of salinization, more pronounced than the salinization of the 1970s, which was considered disastrous. Modern salinization is associated with a decrease in precipitation in the region and an increase in anthropogenic withdrawal of river flow. The current state of the Sea of Azov (a significant positive temperature and salinity anomaly) has never been recorded previously in the history of its studies. An increase in the standard deviation of the average annual series, both for water temperature and salinity, may indicate an increase in the variability of these characteristics in the modern period.

Bibliographic Details

Main Authors:	Berdnikov, S.V., Dashkevich, L.V., Kulygin, V.V.
Other Authors:	Bragina, T.M.
Format:	Journal Contribution biblioteca
Language:	Russian
Published:	2019
Subjects:	Salinity effects, Water temperature effects, Climate conditions, Hydrology, Anthropogenic effects, Ice conditions, River flow,
Online Access:	http://hdl.handle.net/1834/15362
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