As if this summer's heat on land isn't enough, sea-surface temperatures in the Gulf of Maine soared to near-record highs in August in what scientists referred to as a month-long "marine heat wave" in the typically colder waters off the New England coast.
Scientists at the Gulf of Maine Research Institute (GMRI) in Portland, Maine, released an analysis on Aug. 30, determining that the Gulf of Maine officially experienced its second-warmest day on Aug. 8 in satellite-data records dating back to 1981.NOAA and NASA satellites measured an average sea-surface temperature of 68.93 degrees Fahrenheit in the Gulf of Maine on Aug. 8, only 0.05 degrees below the all-time record high of 68.98 set in 2012.
The Gulf of Maine waters are warming faster than most of the Earth's oceans, according to the GMRI analysis.
During one 10-day period in August, the average sea-surface temperature in the Gulf of Maine was nearly 5 degrees above the average from 1982 to 2011, said GMRI Chief Scientist Dr. Andrew Pershing. There were other prolonged stretches this summer that were also a few degrees higher than the long-term average, he added.
No comments:
Post a Comment