Waters off New England had 2nd warmest year on record in ’22

By PATRICK WHITTLE
Associated Press

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — The waters off New England logged the second-warmest year in their recorded history last year. The Gulf of Maine, a body of water about the size of Indiana that touches Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Canada, is warming faster than the vast majority of the world’s oceans. Scientists with the Gulf of Maine Research Institute, a science center in Portland, say last year fell short of setting a new high mark for the hottest year on record by less than half a degree Fahrenheit. The average sea surface temperature was 53.66 degrees Fahrenheit, more than 3.7 degrees above the 40-year average.