Coastal water temperature

Coastal Water Temperatures Reveal Seasonal Shifts and Emerging Trends.

Coastal waters are where the ocean meets the land, and they are changing in measurable ways. A new quality-controlled dataset from NOAA's CO-OPS stations, spanning 90 sites from the mid-1990s to 2023, reveals that seasonal cycles track solar heating closely, yet peak temperatures lag air by days or weeks. Most stations show warming trends averaging nearly 0.5°C per decade, with the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast leading. This local data matters, especially when comparing to broader datasets like those in our piece on integrated subsea cables.