World record extreme sea surface temperatures in the northwestern Arabian/Persian Gulf verified by in situ measurements

Alosairi, Y.; Alsulaiman, N.; Rashed, Abeer M.; Al-Houti, Dana

doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2020.111766

Cited by 37 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…GDW is critical in regulating the Gulf 's salinity and flushing its contaminants (Swift and Bower, 2003;Yao et al, 2014). The arid regional meteorological conditions and shallow depths described above produce large variations in sea temperatures, which can range from 11 • C in winter to 38 • C in summer (Alosairi et al, 2020). Moreover, the excess evaporation over precipitation and river discharge can cause hyper-saline conditions, with salinities up to 70 PSU (Sheppard et al, 2010).…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Atmosphere-Ocean Coupled Variability in the Arabian/Persian Gulf

Senafi

2022

Front. Mar. Sci.

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The Arabian Gulf comprises one of the world's most unique and fragile marine ecosystems; it is susceptible to the adverse effects of climate change due to its shallow depth and its location within an arid region that witnesses frequent severe atmospheric events. To reproduce these effects in numerical models, it is important to obtain a better understanding of the region's sea surface temperature (SST) variability patterns, as SST is a major driver of circulation in shallow environments. To this end, here, empirical orthogonal function (EOF) decomposition analysis was conducted to investigate interannual to multi-decadal SST variability in the Gulf from 1982 to 2020, using daily Level 4 Group for High Resolution SST (GHRSST) data. In this way, three dominant EOF modes were identified to contribute the Gulf's SST variability. Significant spatial and temporal correlations were found suggesting that throughout the 39-year study period, SST variability could be attributed to atmospheric changes driven by the El Nio-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), Atlantic Multi-decadal Oscillation (AMO), and Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) climate modes. Spatial and temporal analyses of the dataset revealed that the average SST was 26.7°C, and that the warming rate from 1982 to 2020 reached up to 0.59°C/decade. A detailed examination of SST changes associated with heat exchange at the air-sea interface was conducted using surface heat fluxes from fifth generation (ERA5) European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF). Despite the SST warming trend, the accumulation of heat during the study period is suggesting that there was an overall loss of heat (cooling). This cooling reverted into heating in 2003 and has since been increasing.

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Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Atmosphere-Ocean Coupled Variability in the Arabian/Persian Gulf

Senafi

2022

Front. Mar. Sci.

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“…The RSA is amongst the warmest sea regions of the world, and is characterised by extreme conditions that fluctuate widely between seasons and geographical locations. In the I-RSA, temperatures range between 13-37 • C [3,13]. Sea temperature has been rising across the RSA, with a record extreme sea surface temperature (SST) event reported in July 2020 in Kuwait Bay that reached 37.6 • C [3].…”

Section: Temperature Salinity and Humiditymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the I-RSA, temperatures range between 13-37 • C [3,13]. Sea temperature has been rising across the RSA, with a record extreme sea surface temperature (SST) event reported in July 2020 in Kuwait Bay that reached 37.6 • C [3]. Trends in the I-RSA and M-RSA show an increase in average SST of approximately 1 • C over 34 years [14], with shallow water areas showing a faster warming trend compared to deep water areas [14,15].…”

Section: Temperature Salinity and Humiditymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…At their peak, HAB events are reported to reach 100s of km 2 and persist for several months, causing extensive loss of coral and fish communities [59,[86][87][88][89]. Within the I-RSA, particularly along the southern coast, HABs often appear associated with hypoxic conditions, higher than average SST events and fish kills [3,90]. In the M-RSA and O-RSA, HABs seem enhanced by the summer upwelling season, although winter algal blooms have also been reported [91] and often involve assemblages of toxic and non-toxic phytoplankton species [92] The link between HABs and climate change in the RSA is not fully clear [91].…”

Section: Harmful Algal Blooms (Habs)mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The ROPME Sea Area (herein referred to as RSA) is the maritime area covered by the EEZs of the ROPME Member States in the Gulf, the Sea of Oman and parts of the north-western Arabian Sea (Figure 1). The RSA is among the warmest sea regions in the world [3,4]. The RSA encompasses three distinct geographical subregions in terms of their environmental characteristics, as well as their exposure to impacts of climate change: Inner, Middle and Outer RSA.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A Regional Review of Marine and Coastal Impacts of Climate Change on the ROPME Sea Area

et al. 2021

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The Regional Organization for the Protection of the Marine Environment (ROPME) Sea Area (RSA) in the northern Indian Ocean, which comprises the Gulf, the Gulf of Oman and the northern Arabian Sea, already experiences naturally extreme environmental conditions and incorporates one of the world’s warmest seas. There is growing evidence that climate change is already affecting the environmental conditions of the RSA, in areas including sea temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, pH, and sea level, which are set to continue changing over time. The cumulative impacts of these changes on coastal and marine ecosystems and dependent societies are less well documented, but are likely to be significant, especially in the context of other human stressors. This review represents the first regional synthesis of observed and predicted climate change impacts on marine and coastal ecosystems across the ROPME Sea Area and their implications for dependent societies. Climate-driven ecological changes include loss of coral reefs due to bleaching and the decline of fish populations, while socio-economic impacts include physical impacts from sea-level rise and cyclones, risk to commercial wild capture fisheries, disruption to desalination systems and loss of tourism. The compilation of this review is aimed to support the development of targeted adaptation actions and to direct future research within the RSA.

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