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You are here: Home / Data and maps / Indicators / Sea surface temperature / Sea surface temperature (CLIM 013) - Assessment published Nov 2012

Sea surface temperature (CLIM 013) - Assessment published Nov 2012

Created : Nov 09, 2012 Published : Nov 20, 2012 Last modified : Nov 20, 2012 03:49 PM
Topics: ,

Generic metadata

Topics:

Climate change Climate change (Primary topic)

Tags:
European Seas | SST | sea surface
DPSIR: Impact
Typology: Descriptive indicator (Type A – What is happening to the environment and to humans?)
Indicator codes
  • CLIM 013
Dynamic
Temporal coverage:
1870-2011
 
Contents
 
Switch to full indicator view

Indicator definition

  • Annual average sea surface temperature anomaly in different European seas
  • Mean annual sea surface temperature trend in European seas

Units

  • °C
  • °C/yr

Key policy question: What is the trend in surface water temperature across European seas?

Key messages

  • Sea surface temperature in European seas is increasing more rapidly than in the global oceans.
  • The rate of increase in sea surface temperature in all European seas during the past 25 years is the largest ever measured in any previous 25-year period. It has been about 10 times faster than the average rate of increase during the past century and beyond.
  • Global sea surface temperature is projected to rise more slowly than atmospheric temperature.

Annual average sea surface temperature anomaly in different European seas

Annual average sea surface temperature anomaly in different European seas

Note: Time series of annual average sea surface temperature (°C), referenced to the average temperature between 1986 and 2010, in each of the European seas. Data sources: SST datasets from the Hadley Centre (HADISST1 (global)), MOON-ENEA (Mediterranean Sea), and Bundesamt für Seeschifffahrt und Hydrographie (Baltic and North Seas), and MyOcean.

Data source:
Downloads and more info

Mean annual sea surface temperature trend in European seas

Mean annual sea surface temperature trend in European seas

Note: Spatial distribution of sea surface temperature trend over the past 25 years (1987-2011) for the European seas as calculated from the HADISST1 dataset. The units are °C/yr. Source: HADSST1 dataset (http://hadobs.metoffice.com/hadisst/data/download.html), masked where ice coverage constituted more than 20% of the sea water.

Data source:
Downloads and more info

Key assessment

Past trends

SST is increasing globally and in Europe’s seas [i] but the rate of warming varies across European seas (Figure 1 and 2). Observed changes in SST of the global ocean and the regional seas of Europe are consistent with the changes in atmospheric temperature [ii].

Projections

Global SST is projected to rise more slowly than atmospheric temperature. Initially ocean warming will be largest in the upper 100 m of the ocean, but warming will continue to penetrate in the deep ocean during the 21st century [iii] (Watterson, 2003; Stouffer, 2004; IPCC, 2007). It is not possible to project changes in SST or the different geographic regions across Europe because the spatial resolution of the coupled ocean-climate models is not high enough to evaluate trends on the scale of individual European regional seas.

[i] Claude Frankignoul and Elodie Kestenare, „Observed Atlantic SST anomaly impact on the NAO: an update“, Journal of Climate 18, Nr. 19 (Oktober 2005): 4089–4094.

[ii] S. Levitus, „Warming of the World Ocean“, Science 287, Nr. 5461 (März 24, 2000): 2225–2229; N. A. Rayner et al., „Improved analyses of changes and uncertainties in sea surface temperature measured in situ since the mid-nineteenth century: the HadSST2 dataset“, Journal of Climate 19, Nr. 3 (Februar 2006): 446–469.

[iii] I. G. Watterson, „Effects of a dynamic ocean on simulated climate sensitivity to greenhouse gases“, Climate Dynamics 21 (2003): 197–209; R.J. Stouffer, „Time scales of climate response“, Journal of Climate 17 (2004): 209–217; IPCC, Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, S. Solomon et al. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007), http://www.ipcc.ch/publications_and_data/ar4/wg1/en/contents.html.

Data sources

Justification for indicator selection

Sea surface temperature (SST) is relevant for monitoring of climate change because it reflects regional changes in ocean temperature, whereas OHC is estimated globally. SST is closely linked to one of the strongest drivers of climate in western Europe, the ocean circulation that is known as Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (MOC) or alternatively as the great conveyor belt. This circulation carries warm upper waters north in the Gulf Stream and returns cold deep waters south. It is widely accepted that the MOC is an important driver of low-frequency variations in sea surface temperature on the time scale of several decades. It is also widely accepted that the NAO-index (a proxy of atmospheric variability) plays a key role in forcing variations in MOC as well as the northward extent of the Gulf Stream.

The MOC sensitivity to greenhouse warming remains a subject of much scientific debate, largely because its large natural variability and the scarcity of observations makes trend detection very difficult.

One of the most visible ramifications of increased temperature in the ocean is the reduced area of sea ice coverage in the Arctic polar region. There is an accumulating body of evidence suggesting that many marine ecosystems are also sensitive to changes in SST. For example, the spread of oxygen-free areas (so called dead zones) in the Baltic Sea in the past 1 000 years was strongly linked to above-average SST.

Scientific references:

  • IPCC, 2007: Cimate Change: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Solomon, S.; Qin, D.; Manning, M.; Chen, Z.; Marquis, M.; Averyt, K. B.; Tignor M. and Miller H. L. (eds.), Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.

Policy context and targets

Context description

In April 2009 the European Commission presented a White Paper on the framework for adaptation policies and measures to reduce the European Union's vulnerability to the impacts of climate change. The White Paper stresses the need to improve the knowledge base and to mainstream adaptation into existing and new EU policies. The European Commission will be publishing an EU Adaptation Strategy in 2013. A number of Member States have already taken action, and several have prepared national adaptation plans.

The European Commission and the European Environment Agency have developed the European Climate Adaptation Platform (Climate-ADAPT, http://climate-adapt.eea.europa.eu/) to share knowledge on observed and projected climate change and its impacts on environmental and social systems and on human health; on relevant research; on EU, national and subnational adaptation strategies and plans; and on adaptation case studies.

Targets

No targets have been specified.

Related policy documents

Methodology

Methodology for indicator calculation

Sea surface temperature datasets stem from the Hadley Centre (HADISST1 (global)), MOON-ENEA (Mediterranean Sea), and Bundesamt für Seeschifffahrt und Hydrographie (Baltic and North Seas), and MyOcean.

Methodology for gap filling

Not applicable

Methodology references

Uncertainties

Methodology uncertainty

Not applicable

Data sets uncertainty

In general, changes related to the physical and chemical marine environment are better documented than biological changes because links between cause and effect are better understood and often time series of observations are longer. For example, systematic observations of both sea-level and sea surface temperature were started around 1880 and are today complemented by observations from space that have high resolution in time and geographical coverage and by Argo floats that also automatically measure temperature and salinity below the ocean surface.

Further information on uncertainties is provided in Section 1.7 of the EEA report on Climate change, impacts, and vulnerability in Europe 2012 (http://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/climate-impacts-and-vulnerability-2012/)

Rationale uncertainty

No uncertainty has been specified

More information about this indicator

See this indicator specification for more details.

Contacts and ownership

EEA Contact Info

Trine Christiansen

Ownership

EEA Management Plan

2012 2.0.1 (note: EEA internal system)

Dates

First draft created: 2012/11/09 15:14:46.065337 GMT+1
Publish date: 2012-11-20T16:49:00+02:00
Last modified: 2012/11/20 15:49:27.843821 GMT+1
Document Actions
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