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Environmental information systems
EN
The planet’s oceans are warming, and that has many implications. Changes in ocean temperature can have widespread effects on marine species and biodiversity, with direct and indirect impacts on both natural and human activities, from ecosystem services to the fishing industry. Higher ocean surface temperatures can increase water vapour in the atmosphere, which influences weather both at sea and over land. Ocean warming in coastal areas can trigger algal blooms and bacterial outbreaks, which can be dangerous to marine life, human health and industries relying on tourism, fisheries, etc.
Key messages
Annual mean sea surface temperature has increased in all European regional seas. Further ocean warming is expected in future, potentially exceeding 3 °C by the end of this century under a high-emissions scenario, with somewhat lower warming for the Atlantic than for the other regional seas.
Sea surface temperature
Definition
Sea surface temperature (SST) is a key indicator of climate change in the ocean. SST represents the temperature of sea water at or near the surface over different timescales (e.g. seasonally and annually).
Note that different methods have been used historically to measure SST (ships, buoys and satellites), which requires careful consideration when building homogeneous data sets.
Index factsheet (ETC/CCA Technical Paper): Sea surface temperature
Relevance
The index is easy to interpret and provides information for a variety of applications, mostly related to marine ecosystems and fisheries. Increasing SSTs in coastal areas can trigger algal blooms and outbreaks of vibrio bacteria, which can negatively affect human health and recreation.
Past and projected changes
Annual mean SST has increased in all European regional seas since 1870, particularly since the late 1970s.
Further increases are projected in the future, and these could exceed 3 °C by the end of the 21st century under the high-emissions scenario (representative concentration pathway (RCP)8.5). The greatest increases are projected for the Arctic Ocean, the North Sea and the Mediterranean Sea, whereas smaller SST increases are projected for the Atlantic Ocean.
Further information (EEA indicator assessment): European sea surface temperature
Annual mean sea surface temperature for European seas
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