The waters of the Gulf of Maine warmed last year, but more slowly than in recent years.
The Gulf of Maine Research Institute says other parts of the North Atlantic warmed more quickly but, overall, the Gulf of Maine has warmed at triple the rate of the world' oceans over the last four decades.
Dr. Janet Duffy-Anderson, the institute's Chief Scientific Officer says that slowed warming is due to an arctic current that made deep ocean temperatures cooler than usual last spring.
"In the spring, we had cooler bottom temperatures than we have had in the past 10 or 15 years, which was really encouraging to see, unfortunately, that cooling didn't last," Duffy-Anderson said.
Duffy-Anderson said the Gulf of Maine is seen as a bellwether for climate change.
"To help other people who are living in other large marine ecosystems that are also going to be experiencing the effect of climate change, not as rapidly as we are, but still steadily," Duffy-Anderson said.
Duffy-Anderson said she doesn't know if the cooling pattern will occur again this year.
The Gulf of Maine warming is expected to worsen the severity of storms like the ones that battered inland and coastal Maine last winter.
A $34.5 million bill proposed by Governor Janet Mills to help prepare Maine for future extreme weather was presented to state lawmakers yesterday.
