February 27, 2025 — The waters off New England had another warm year but didn’t heat up as fast as earlier this decade, bucking a trend of higher warming worldwide, said scientists who study the Atlantic Ocean near Maine.
The Gulf of Maine, which touches three New England states and Canada, emerged as a test case for climate change about a decade ago because it is warming much faster than most of the world’s oceans. The gulf is home to some of the country’s most valuable seafood species and is critical to the American lobster industry.
The gulf’s annual sea surface temperature last year was 51.5 degrees Fahrenheit (10.8 degrees Celsius), according to the Gulf of Maine Research Institute in Portland. That was more than 0.88 F (0.49 C) above the long-term average from 1991 to 2020, the institute said in a report released this month.