Northeast ocean temps reach record high

The Associated Press

PORTLAND, Maine -- Ocean temperatures off the northeast United States reached a record high for the first half of 2012, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said yesterday.

The average sea surface temperature for the waters over the Northeast continental shelf, from North Carolina to Canada, was a little over 50.5 degrees from January through June, breaking the previous record of 50.45 degrees for the same six months set in 1951. The average temperature for those months during the past three decades has been about 48 degrees.

The rising temperatures impact virtually all ocean life, said Kevin Friedland, a scientist for NOAA's Northeast Fisheries Science Center.

Atlantic cod and other commercially valuable fish, for instance, have been shifting northeast in recent years because of warming waters. Warm water was blamed for lobsters shedding their shells a month or more earlier than usual in Maine waters this past spring, leading to a strong early harvest that created havoc within the industry.

The rising ocean temperatures could also affect the biological clocks of many species, which spawn at certain times based on environmental signals such as water temperature.

"There's going to be climate winner and losers," Friedland said. "If it's too warm for a species, it opens up a niche for other species."

Scientists say two possible factors to explain the water temperature rise are the above-normal air temperatures across the region last winter and the warming of the Labrador Current. Some water temperature variations historically have also been attributed to long-term naturally occurring water oscillations.