Abstract
Properties of time-series of water temperature, salinity, river runoff, sea level and ice conditions from the Baltic Sea area were studied. Air and water temperatures reveal a strong airsea coupling and the water salinity has been found to have a slight increasing trend during the first half of this century. An estimate of the river runoff to the Baltic Sea shows a decreasing trend at the same time. The variance of sea level changes do not show any noticeable trend after 1920′s, suggesting that there recently has been no significant change in the cyclonic activity in the Baltic Sea area. The data on ice conditions in Helsinki show a decrease of 1 1/2 months in the length of the ice covered season from 1860′s to 1970′s. The maximum annual ice extent of the Baltic Sea also reveals a decreasing trend in the 19th century. It correlates (r=-0.89) with the mean winter air temperature in Helsinki, which allows prognosis of the future mean maximum ice coverage on the basis of predicted mean air temperatures.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Climatic Changes on a Yearly to Millenial Basis |
| Subtitle of host publication | Geological, Historical and Instrumental Records |
| Editors | N-A. Möner, W. Karlén |
| Pages | 391-399 |
| ISBN (Electronic) | 978-94-015-7692-5 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1984 |
| MoE publication type | Not Eligible |