Articles | Volume 16, issue 3
https://doi.org/10.5194/os-16-715-2020
https://doi.org/10.5194/os-16-715-2020
Research article
 | 
15 Jun 2020
Research article |  | 15 Jun 2020

Mechanisms of decadal changes in sea surface height and heat content in the eastern Nordic Seas

Sara Broomé, Léon Chafik, and Johan Nilsson

Data sets

JRA-55: Japanese 55-year Reanalysis, Monthly Means and Variances JMA (Japan Meteorological Agency) https://doi.org/10.5065/D60G3H5B

NOCS Surface Flux Dataset v2.0 National Oceanography Centre Southampton (NOCS) https://doi.org/10.5065/V8E1-ZD23

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Short summary
Observations in the Nordic Seas have shown a general warming and an increase in sea surface height over the last few decades. However, our results reveal that the sea surface heights and heat content in the decade following the mid-2000s have not risen much or even stagnated. This is most prominent in the eastern Nordic Seas, where waters of Atlantic origin dominate. We conclude that this stagnation is possibly a consequence of decreased heat transport from the subpolar North Atlantic.