Analysis of the spatial pattern of July temperature departures (1943–1972) over Canada and estimates of the 700 MB midsummer circulation during middle and late holocene

The pattern of July temperature variability over Canada north of ∼50°N for the period 1943–1972 has been analysed by means of principal component analysis. Our objective was to assess the spatial similarities between modern temperature fluctuations at the interannual scale and those derived from paieotempe nature records encompassing a period of the last 6000 14 C years. A comparison of the first four principal components from each data set suggests that contemporary midsummer temperature variations offer a reasonable analogue to Holocene fluctuations on the order of a few centuries. The Keewatin‐Baffin Island‐Ungava Peninsula region appears to be within the area of maximum temperature response.