High Sea Water Temperatures

Observation: This post is provided based on information shared by Rick Thoman of the National Weather Service, Alaska Region. Rick writes, "Sea surface temperatures have been extremely warm (compared to normal anyway) over the Bering Sea and adjacent areas of the North Pacific this summer. Both Cold Bay and St. Paul Island had the warmest month on record in August, and numerous daily records have been set thus far in September. This is due almost entirely to the warm ocean: there is nothing especially unusual about the atmospheric flow patterns. It would be interesting to know if folks in the region are seeing any impacts, e.g. warmer water, fish showing up, or changes in local species, availability, blooms, etc. - Rick Thoman, NWS. Posted by Mike Brubaker, Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, Center for Climate and Health

LEO says: A number of potential warm water-related observations were posted by LEO Network members in June, July and August including reports of unusual sea mammal behavior (endothermic) and fish (exothermic) outside of their normal range. LEO encourages network members to share other observations as they occur. M. Brubaker

Resources:

European Space Agency (ESA) – Earth from Space is presented by Kelsea Brennan-Wessels from the ESA Web-TV virtual studios. Earth from Space: Bering Sea, Alaska "The Copernicus Sentinel-3A satellite brings us over the Bering Sea, north of the Alaska Peninsula, on 26 March. Seasonal sea ice dominates the upper part of the image. Ice plays an important role in the sea's ecosystem. Growing algae attach to the bottom of the ice; when the ice melts in the spring, it leaves behind a layer of nutrient-rich freshwater on which the algae thrive. Organisms higher up the food chain then eat the algae." Explore the Bering Sea with the Sentinel-3 satellite in the 227th edition of the ESA Web-TV 2m 19sec YouTube video click here. Published on Apr 28, 2017. M. Tcheripanoff

Media:

Science Daily (2014-09-18) August and June-August global temperatures each reach record high, driven largely by record warm global oceans – "According to NOAA sceintists, the globally averaged temperature over land and ocean surfaces for August 2014 was the highest for August since record keeping began in 1880. It also marked the 38th consecutive August with a global temperature above the 20th century average. The last below-average global temperature for August occurred in 1976." National Oceanic and Atomspheric Administration (NOAA)