This month, the European Union’s Climate Change Service, Copernicus, stated that 2024 is likely to end up as the warmest year on record.
July 2024 had an average surface air temperature of 62.44 degrees Fahrenheit, which registered just shy of the all-time high set in July 2023. And the global daily sea surface temperatures for July 2024 was 69.58 degrees Fahrenheit, the second highest value on record for the month.
As documented by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, these high ocean temperatures affect the health of the world’s coral reefs, cyclone activity in the Atlantic and the Antarctic ice melt. According to Copernicus, Antarctic Sea ice dipped to its second lowest value on record in the month of July.
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These and other climate impacts will continue to have a profound effect on fish in Rhode Island and the region . Not many fish were caught in Narragansett Bay in August as the water was too warm. And sea-level rise and storms continue to erode our coast and damage habitat areas.