Home – Home – Jornals – Geography and Natural Resources 2025 number 1

The study is devoted to the analysis of the spatio-temporal variability of the hydrometeorological regime, hazardous hydrometeorological phenomena and their combinations in the Azov and Caspian Seas for the period 1950-2020. The current dynamics of the processes is assessed against the background of climatic fluctuations. Based on the observation data and the mathematical modeling results, an analysis of the air temperature, ice cover and duration of the ice season, interannual dynamics of wind waves and storm activity was carried out. It is shown that since 1975, a steady increase in the sum of air temperatures and an increase in the frequency of mild winters have been observed for both water areas. Since the early 1990s a significant reduction in ice cover and duration of the ice season has been established at all coastal hydrometeorological stations, occurring with varying intensity. Thus, the ice regime of the seas has been characterized by a change in the characteristics since the early 1990s. For wind waves, the study reveals a shift of the period of maximum wave development to the summer-autumn period after 2000, and an increase in maximum wave heights since the 2010s. In the regions of the Azov and Caspian Seas, a decrease in the duration of winter hazardous and multi-hazard hydrometeorological phenomena and an increase in their number are noted after 2000. As a result of generalizing the information obtained, a conclusion was made that a shift in the hydrometeorological regime of the Azov and Caspian Seas reliably manifested itself in the early 2000s. It is shown that the hydrometeorological regime of the Azov Sea is currently in a transitional state from one regime to another, while in the Northern Caspian the transition period has ended and further changes will be caused mainly by long-term fluctuations in sea level.