Long-lasting La Niña events more common over past century

Multiyear La Niña events have become more common over the last 100 years, according to a new study led by University of Hawai'i (UH) at Mānoa atmospheric scientist Bin Wang. Five out of six La Niña events since 1998 have ...

Scientists find evidence of sea star species hybridization

Scientists have long suspected two species of sea stars—commonly referred to as starfish—along rocky European and North American coastlines of crossbreeding in the cool waters of the North Atlantic Ocean. Now, according ...

2023 likely to be hottest year on record

2023 is likely to be the hottest year in human history, and global temperatures during the Northern Hemisphere summer were the warmest on record, the EU climate monitor said on Wednesday.

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Sea surface temperature

Sea surface temperature (SST) is the water temperature close to the surface.

In practical terms, the exact meaning of surface varies according to the measurement method used. A satellite infrared radiometer indirectly measures the temperature of a very thin layer of about 10 micrometres thick (referred to as the skin) of the ocean which leads to the phrase skin temperature (because infrared radiation is emitted from this layer). A microwave instrument measures subskin temperature at about 1 mm. A thermometer attached to a moored or drifting buoy in the ocean would measure the temperature at a specific depth, (e.g. at 1 meter below the sea surface) — this temperature during the day is called temperature of the warm layer. The measurements routinely made from ships are often from the engine water intakes and may be at various depths in the upper 20 m of the ocean. In fact, this temperature is often called sea surface temperature, or foundation temperature. Note that the depth of measurement in this case will vary with the cargo aboard the vessel.

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