Water Temp

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Dave Dillehay

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Scuba Instructor
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Location
Cozumel
AS i have long projected, the water temp today should have been 78-79F. IT Was 80F on three DMs computer's Perhaps I'M WRONG and it is getting hotter. BUT 1 Degree is not necessarily definitive. Maybe someone has year long average temps.

Dave Dillehay
 
I also logged a consistent 80 all weekend but the water clarity / visibility was poor to so/so with a lot of particulates. Even over the wall at depth viability wasn't that good. I did not see any upwellings over the wall which normally brings a little cooler water from the depths and with it the signature excellent Cozumel visibility. I think that if the channel current were to shift slightly towards the island it would cool off a little and the visibility would open up.
 
AS i have long projected, the water temp today should have been 78-79F. IT Was 80F on three DMs computer's Perhaps I'M WRONG and it is getting hotter. BUT 1 Degree is not necessarily definitive. Maybe someone has year long average temps.

Dave Dillehay
There is plenty of data that shows water temperatures globally are increasing. A small sample size both in location and number of data points doesn't really prove anything one way or the other.
 
Wonder how many BTU's increase the entire Caribbean ocean is at 1 deg ? That is a VERY large number!

So yes, 1deg water temp is a big thing.
 

A small correction: Seawater temps today are not the “warmest they have ever been”. That is a misstatement. They are the highest since scientists began recording them by using thermometers in 1850. 1850, coincidentally, marked the end of the northern hemisphere’s “Little Ice Age” (1350AD-1850AD). That was the period that followed the earlier “Medieval Warm Period” (900AD to 1300AD). Below is a chart of sea temps since 1850, that takes into account variations in sampling and recording methods:

sea surface temp.jpg


Methods other than the direct measurement with thermometers (such as the TEX-86 Index, “clumped” isotope paleothermometry, oxygen isotope comparison, and other techniques) show that the sea temperature has fluctuated wildly over time, but for most of the world's history, it has been much warmer than it is today. 10,000 years ago, it seems it was about the same as it is today. It has been hotter, and it has been colder (see Smithsonian chart, below).

I am not trying to argue pro/con on climate change. I'll leave that to the "sane" and "insane" folks. I am just giving some facts that often are not included in popular website and news articles that use a lot of overstatement and exaggeration to make their point, like the statement “warmer than it has ever been”.

Below is a temperature chart going back 500 million years, published by the Smithsonian:

smithsonian temps.jpg
 
Would a sane person get on a plane and fly to Cozumel?
That's a joke, right? Yes, of course they would. I will be doing it myself in April, just as thousands will in the upcoming months.
 
A small correction: Seawater temps today are not the “warmest they have ever been”. That is a misstatement. They are the highest since scientists began recording them by using thermometers in 1850. 1850, coincidentally, marked the end of the northern hemisphere’s “Little Ice Age” (1350AD-1850AD). That was the period that followed the earlier “Medieval Warm Period” (900AD to 1300AD). Below is a chart of sea temps since 1850, that takes into account variations in sampling and recording methods:

View attachment 561976

Methods other than the direct measurement with thermometers (such as the TEX-86 Index, “clumped” isotope paleothermometry, oxygen isotope comparison, and other techniques) show that the sea temperature has fluctuated wildly over time, but for most of the world's history, it has been much warmer than it is today. 10,000 years ago, it seems it was about the same as it is today. It has been hotter, and it has been colder (see Smithsonian chart, below).

I am not trying to argue pro/con on climate change. I'll leave that to the "sane" and "insane" folks. I am just giving some facts that often are not included in popular website and news articles that use a lot of overstatement and exaggeration to make their point, like the statement “warmer than it has ever been”.

Below is a temperature chart going back 500 million years, published by the Smithsonian:

View attachment 561975

This is true. But this is also misleading and dishonest argument. Yes the planet was warmer in the past. But the creatures living then are all extinct now and the creatures living now are adapted to the current climate.

If you are trying to argue that just because the planet was warmer when the dinosaurs roamed the earth, it will be ok to rapidly return to that temperature over a short period, you are just not being honest.

The planet also used to be covered in volcanoes and had a molten crust in the past but I am sure you would agree that would not be great if we quickly returned to that state.
 

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