Color coded maps for the month of February (austral summer) representing decadal SST anomalies for three successive decades: 1982–1991, 1992–2001 and 2002–2011. (a) shows the variations of SST anomalies over Amundsen-Bellingshausen Seas sector; anomaly variations over Ross Sea sector are shown in (b). Negative anomaly in the ABS sector during the period 1982–91 is visible which progressively becomes positive in 2002–11. However, Ross Sea shows intense warmer SST during 1982–91 and slowly changes to colder SST during 2002–11. Gray color represents the continent. Regions of study are marked by white circles.