Climate change is influencing the ocean environment in myriad ways and many of its effects can directly or indirectly impact coastal ecosystems. In this study, I analyzed data for a number of variables describing atmospheric and ocean conditions (AOC) from a National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) data buoy located near the Cape Cod, MA, peninsula. The data suggest that a number of significant trends have occurred during the period of data collection spanning 1982–2015. Changes include up to a 2 °C and 3 °C warming of air and water temperatures in summer, reduced barometric pressure in the summer/fall, declining wind speeds in the spring, shorter average wave-periods in the winter and spring, a clockwise change in wind direction in the summer, and increased wave heights in the summer and fall. The AOC variables also exhibited a number of relationships with each other, which helped explain some mechanisms of change. With the exception of barometric pressure and fall wave-height, none of the variables exhibited significant correlations with the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) indices, which themselves have exhibited a declining trend over the last several decades. The analyses indicate that greenhouse gas emissions may be the primary driver of these changes. Herein, I further discuss the results in the context of potential consequences for coastal ecosystems of the Cape Cod region.
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1 December 2017
Multidecadal Trends in Atmospheric and Ocean Conditions in Offshore Waters Near Cape Cod, Massachusetts
Stephen M. Smith
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Northeastern Naturalist
Vol. 24 • No. 4
December 2017
Vol. 24 • No. 4
December 2017