Florida Sea Surface Temperatures Hit High Of 98.1F In Everglades National Park [View all]

[hatrack]

One redeeming factor of the current El Nino is that it favors wind shear over the Caribbean, which mitigates hurricane development, but if a storm does make it through to the superheated Gulf, things could get ugly.

Meanwhile, big implications for marine life.

Link to tweet

Tampa Bay Times:

A severe marine heatwave off the coast of Florida has brought a burst of abnormally high ocean temperatures, prompting alarms from marine scientists that the unprecedented heat could further stress an already vulnerable coral reef system.

Water temperatures offshore of Everglades National Park this week spiked to roughly 10 degrees higher than the average summer peak, with some locations approaching a blistery 97 degrees Monday afternoon.

Coral scientists worry if the heat were to stick around even a few weeks, corals could begin bleaching, or weakening, as they expel the tiny algae species living in their tissues. Even if corals don’t bleach, scientists fear, the conditions are already ripe for further stress ahead of pivotal coral spawning expected in August.

EDIT

https://climatecrocks.com/2023/07/12/floridas-marine-heat-wave-is-next-level-and-part-of-a-global-pattern/