MAINE PUBLIC • January 12, 2022
Surface water temperatures in the Gulf of Maine this fall hit new seasonal highs, and it looks like 2021 overall will be one of the hottest ever in the gulf. Researchers at the Gulf of Maine Research Institute said that this fall, temperatures in the gulf ran more than four degrees Fahrenheit above the historical norm. "It is stunning in terms of the magnitude of how far above even our past experience this fall stands out," said GMRI scientist Kathy Mills. She said that over the last decade the gulf has entered a temperature "regime shift" due in part to persistent changes in long-standing ocean current patterns that are in turn driven by global warming.