Response of South Florida estuaries to the 2023 heatwave

Abstract

Abstract While a record-high water temperature of 38.4°C on 24 July 2023 has been reported from a local site in Florida’s Manatee Bay, satellite images revealed more extensive record-high water temperature in South Florida estuaries in July 2023 as a response to the 2023 heatwave, with an average sea surface temperature (SST) anomaly of 1.47°C above the 2003–2022 mean. Long-term first-half-year SST anomalies and long-term SST trend components of the time series both show significant warming trends in these estuaries between 2003 and 2023 (0.73°C/decade), which is almost twice as much as in the Gulf of Mexico (0.39°C/decade). Furthermore, the warming trend appears to have accelerated over the past decade. In the context of global warming in the 21st century, such a warming trend and response to heatwave may lead to more heat stress on the precious coral reefs and seagrasses in these already fragile estuaries.