THE surface temperature of the ocean around the Florida Keys has risen to 38.44 degrees Celsius this week, or has reached the level of a hot tub, while the normal water temperature for the area this time of year should be between 23 and 31 degrees, the National Administration said for Oceans and Atmosphere (NOAA).
The increasing frequency and intensity of severe weather conditions - both on land and in the oceans - are symptomatic of human-driven global climate change. There is no detailed evidence of changes in ocean surface temperature, but a 2020 study states that the highest temperature ever recorded was in the Persian Gulf at 37.61 degrees Celsius.
"The waters in the bay are very hot"
Florida's south coast is battling an extreme heat wave that threatens marine life and ocean ecosystems. "We didn't expect the warming to come so early in the year and be so extreme. It looks like it's a precedent," NOAA's Derek Manzello told CNN last week.
Heat waves are increasingly affecting the world's oceans, destroying algae, sea grass, corals and other ecosystems like a huge forest fire that takes place in the sea. A 2019 study found that the number of ocean heat wave days has tripled in recent years.
Experts say that the so-called heat dome in 2021 killed more than a billion marine animals along the Canadian part of the Pacific Ocean. Fishing boat captain Dustin Hansel, who fishes in Key Largo, said yesterday that the catch has gotten worse and worse over the past five years and that he is noticing more and more dead fish in the area.
"As for the waters in the bay, all the waters near the coast, they are very hot. Extremely hot," Hansel said, according to The Guardian.
"This could be deadly"
The World Meteorological Organization has warned that sea temperatures like those in South Florida could be deadly to marine life and threaten ocean ecosystems and affect human food supplies and livelihoods.
NOAA warned earlier this month that warmer water around Florida could boost tropical storms and hurricanes, which generate more energy over warm waters. High temperatures around the Florida Keys also threaten coral reefs.
Scientists have noticed bleaching and even movement of some of the Keys' hardiest corals, said Ian Enochs, NOAA's coral program manager. "I'm nervous about how early this is happening," he said.
It is not yet known whether the temperatures recorded in Florida will be considered a world record because it is a shallow area with a lot of sea grass that can be affected by high soil temperatures in nearby Everglades National Park, said tropical meteorologist Brian McNoldy of the University of Miami.