PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • October 31, 2023
What does the ocean of tomorrow look like? It is an ocean where temperatures and sea level are increasing, pH and dissolved oxygen are decreasing, and harmful algal blooms and severe weather could become more frequent. Climate change will push lobster and fish populations into new places, and fishing fleets with them. It also challenges recovery of North Atlantic right whales and other imperiled species. Wind turbines help mitigate climate change, but affect currents, habitats and species in complex and uncertain ways. An opening Arctic could see more and larger cargo ships steaming in and out of Gulf of Maine ports along new shipping lanes. The massive algae bloom in the Gulf of Maine this past summer serves as a stark reminder of the need for new and better data. ~ Dr. Jake Kritzer and Jackie Motyka, Northeastern Regional Association of Coastal Ocean Observing Systems