Why the Gulf of Maine Surface Ocean Waters are Warming Faster than Elsewhere

None of us are strangers to the reports of the Gulf of Maine heating 97% faster than the world’s oceans. However, the actual reasons for this can be lost in the constant headlines about global warming and rising greenhouse gases. To explain this extraordinary phenomenon, let’s look closely at four factors: surface seawater temperatures, heat severity, air temperature, and rainfall, monthly for five years.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) produces a monthly chart of sea surface water temperatures. Here is June 2024. The dark blue waters are 32 to 41 degrees F. The light blue is 54 degrees F. The green water in Massachusetts Bay is about 65 degrees, and the yellow water south of Cape Cod is around 70 degrees F. Note that the surface water in the Gulf of Maine does not have one temperature. Water temperatures across the sea’s face slide from 65 degrees by the shore to 54 degrees in the Atlantic.

Here are the charts for January:

The top row are the sea surface temperatures for January marching back in time from 2024 to 2020. The black splotches represent a lack of data. Likely due to cloud cover for much of the month. The maps of the Northeast show precipitation with January 2022 being the driest month and January 2023 the wettest. The chart…