Interannual Variability of Thermal Conditions in the Kuroshio Energetically Active Zone and Adjacent Areas of the Philippine Sea

Regional features and possible causal relationships of interannual changes in air temperature, sea surface temperature (SST), and water temperature in the upper 750-m layer with variations in atmospheric pressure, wind, heat fluxes on the ocean surface, and climate indices over the last four decades were determined. It is shown that in different regions of the Philippine Sea air temperature increased by 0.2–0.5°C and SST rose by 0.6–0.8°C. In several layers of the water column, there are multidirectional trends in water temperature. In winter, in the area of the Kuroshio energetically active zone of the ocean (EAZO), both maximum fluxes and trends in sensible and latent heat from the ocean to the atmosphere were recorded. The variations in air temperature and SST have stable correlations with variations in the zonal and meridional components of wind speed and climate indices.