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Land surface air temperature (SAT) change is one of the core issues in monitoring and assessing regional climate change. In this study, the characteristics of SAT change over DPR Korea for the period 1918–2015 were investigated using a high-quality historical dataset. Results show that the region-averaged annual mean SAT increased 0.21 °C/decade for the period 1918–2015 on the basis of data from four stations and 0.19 °C/decade for the period 1941–2015 as estimated based on data from nine stations. Before the 1970s, Pyongyang station in the central region experienced the largest warming trend. Linear trends of seasonal mean SAT during 1941–1970 were negative for all seasons in eastern coast and for summer and autumn in western coast and northern inland areas. Since 1971, however, the annual and seasonal mean SAT trends have shifted to positive values in all regions, with winter experiencing the most rapid warming. During the period of global warming slowdown since 1998 or 2000, no significant seasonal warming trend of wintertime was detectable, and this caused the smallest winter warming for the last 45 years. Other seasons also witnessed a generally weakened warming during 1971–2015 compared to that of 1971–2000. The results of the study will help in understanding regional climate change and in assessing the impacts of climate change on economic and natural ecosystems in the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Characteristics and causes of global warming hiatus (GWH) phenomenon have received much attention in recent years. Monthly mean data of land surface air maximum temperature (Tmax), minimum temperature (Tmin), and mean temperature (Tmean) of 118 national stations since 1951 in Northeast China are used in this paper to analyze the changes of land surface air temperature in recent 64 years with an emphasis on the GWH period. The results show that (1) from 1951 to 2014, the warming trends of Tmax, Tmin, and Tmean are 0.20, 0.42, and 0.34 °C/decade respectively for the whole area, with the warming rate of Tmin about two times of Tmax, and the upward trend of Tmean obviously higher than mainland China and global averages; (2) in the period 1998-2014, the annual mean temperature consistently exhibits a cooling phenomenon in Northeast China, and the trends of Tmax, Tmin, and Tmean are −0.36, −0.14, and −0.28 °C/decade respectively; (3) in the GWH period, seasonal mean cooling mainly occurs in northern winter (DJF) and spring (MAM), but northern summer (JJA) and autumn (SON) still experience a warming, implying that the annual mean temperature decrease is controlled by the remarkable cooling of winter and spring; (4) compared to the global and mainland China averages, the hiatus phenomenon is more evident in Northeast China, and the cooling trends are more obvious in the cold season; (5) the Northeast China cooling trend occurs under the circulation background of the negative phase Arctic Oscillation (AO), and it is also closely related to strengthening of the Siberia High (SH) and the East Asian Trough (EAT), and the stronger East Asian winter monsoon (EAWM) over the GWH period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]