In June 2023, an all-female team of 6 rowers – Team Ithica, completed a continuous and unassisted course of the British coast (approximately 2000 miles) through torrential rain, lightning and thunder as part of what is known as the toughest rowing challenge in the world, GB Row.
While alternating two-hour rowing shifts over 44 days, this team of extraordinary women collected essential ocean sea surface temperature data that is not otherwise captured, especially along the northern coast.
As a proud scientific partner and for the second year in a row, RS Aqua integrated a temperature sensor to the boat’s rudder to collect the temperature data every few minutes, building a ground-truthed dataset spanning the entire UK coastline for 2023.
The data is in and findings by the researchers at the University of Portsmouth show that water temperatures are rising at a rate that surpasses previously recorded rates, a genuine cause for concern that affects everyone.
“We’re thrilled to be working with the GB Row team for the second time. Building on the success of the last race, we leveraged our experience to deliver even better results. Their valuable feedback has been instrumental in refining our products and making them suitable for a broad range of applications”
– Terry Edwards, Technical Director, RS Aqua
YEAR-ON-YEAR COMPARISONS
Inter-annual comparisons show that summer UK coastal waters were on average 0.39 degrees warmer in 2023 than in 2022 which challenges the findings found in a recent study on sea temperature trends that pegs the rate of increase at 0.35 degrees annually.
Temperature differences between 2022 and 2023 GB Row Challenges. Red indicates warming and blue cooling
This disparity, while seemingly minute, is certainly not insignificant. Put concisely by Portsmouth Uni’s Professor of Environmental Pollution and lead scientist
“This increase in temperature, however small, has far-reaching consequences for marine life, storm strength and rising sea levels.”
– Professor Fay Couceiro, Professor of Environmental Pollution and lead scientist
Another finding the data revealed was that historical satellite data only gave temperature readings from the surface of the water. The sensor placed at a depth of 75cm, similar to those on the UK’s coastal monitoring buoys, confirms that the temperatures go as deep as 75cm, allowing us to understand how the heat further affects ecosystems under the sea.
On the other end of the scale, some areas like the Thames Estuary and parts of Kent, saw a drop in sea surface temperature from 2022 to 2023. Notably, Kent experienced a cooling trend, with temperatures in 2023 up to 1.9 degrees Celsius cooler than the previous year.
ACCESSIBLE DATA FOR EVERYONE
The GB Row Data is the only in situ, publicly available dataset on coastal temperatures making the work these incredible rowers do so important. Unlike traditional methods using buoys or satellite estimates, this data offers a unique perspective accessible to all, empowering researchers, policymakers, and the public to address climate change’s impact on our oceans.
Read the press release from the University of Portsmouth here
Read the full report here