The oceanographic conditions in the Gulf of Maine, Scotian Shelf, Slope Sea, and surroundings are determined by interplay of two major circulation systems—the Gulf Stream and Labrador Current. This study aims to better understand regional long-term climate trends caused by the Gulf Stream decadal variability. The in situ data analysis confirms a continuous slow warming within all three areas over the last five decades. It is shown that the warming accelerated in the recent 10 years coinciding with a strengthened northward incursion of warm water in the summer months. Such strong northward migration of warm water was not seen in the four preceding decades, making the current rapid warming different from previous ones. We argue that the recent decadal-scale warming is unique and may signal that the shift of the thermal regime in this region may be at least partially caused by a changed pattern of the Gulf Stream extension zone's long-term variability. We found that the Scotian Shelf and Slope Water region has recently been warming much faster than the Gulf of Maine, both in the subsurface (the upper ~ 50 m) and in deeper layers, indicating that the probable cause of the faster warming in the most recent decade is due to the regime change in the Gulf Stream extension region.

中文翻译：

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缅因湾和斜坡水的近期变暖和年代际变化

缅因湾、苏格兰大陆架、斜坡海和周围环境的海洋条件由两个主要环流系统——墨西哥湾流和拉布拉多洋流——的相互作用决定。本研究旨在更好地了解由墨西哥湾流年代际变率引起的区域长期气候趋势。原位数据分析证实，在过去 50 年中，所有三个地区都在持续缓慢变暖。结果表明，近10年来变暖加速，恰逢夏季暖​​水北侵加强。如此强烈的暖水向北迁移是前四个十年未曾见过的，使得当前的快速变暖与以往不同。我们认为，最近的十年尺度变暖是独一无二的，并且可能表明该地区热状态的转变可能至少部分是由墨西哥湾流延伸区长期变化模式的变化引起的。我们发现，斯科舍大陆架和斜坡水区最近的变暖速度比缅因湾快得多，无论是在地下（上层~50 m）还是在更深层，这表明大多数地区变暖速度更快的可能原因最近十年是由于墨西哥湾流延伸区的制度变化。