Coastal Northeast U.S. warming more rapidly than most regions in North America

The coastal Northeast United States from Delaware to Maine is warming at a faster rate than most regions in North America, according to a new study from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst.

The cause of this increased warming is likely due to changes in ocean and atmospheric circulations in the North Atlantic Ocean.

According to the research, the northwest Atlantic is warming much faster than all the oceans in the world as a whole.

Northeast U.S. winters are getting milder, while Northeast summers are steadily warming near the coast.

There may be two potential players at work, the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) is slowing down due to climate change.

In addition, the North Atlantic Oscillation for the past few decades has favored a pattern which enhances the influence of ocean air on the climate of the Northeast seaboard. Since the northwest Atlantic waters are warming due to the AMOC slowdown, this warmer ocean air is being blown into the coastal Northeast, there by enhancing heating. The increased warming is likely more prominent during the nighttime hours.

“One consequence of this conveyor belt slowdown is more heating of the ocean off the Northeastern coast, which helps to explain the spike in ocean temperatures in the Mid-Atlantic Bight and Gulf of Maine regions,” explains Ambarish Karmalkar, who is a professor of Geosciences at UMASS and the lead author of the study.