Sea Surface Temperature Trends in the Southern Cuban Shelves for the Period 1982–2018

Abstract

AbstractThis work has the objective to investigate the recent Sea Surface Temperature (SST) trends on southern Cuban shelves over the years 1982–2018 using monthly AVHRR SST NOAA product. This paper extends and updates the previous studies about SST on the Southern Cuban shelves with the aim of improving understanding of how global-scale climate changes translate into them and it could potentially help to better understand the influence of Sea Surface Temperature on mangroves deaths, coral bleaching, fisheries behavior and species displacement among others. The SST annual average has a value of 27.8784 °C and a range of 22.1774–2.4022 °C, for the western shelf, while for the eastern one it is 28.3395 °C with a range of 23.4504–32.0313 °C. The SST trend is 0.0168 °C yr-1 and 0.0156 °C yr-1, for western and eastern shelves respectively. During the last 36 years, the SST in the southwestern shelf has increased by 0.725 °C; while in the southeast it increases by 0.644 °C. If the current conditions that force the behavior of the climate in the Caribbean region are sustained, by 2050 a SST of up to 1,348 °C and 1,199 °C could be reached in the southwestern and southeastern Cuban shelves.KeywordsSea surface temperatureCaribbeanCuba