Waters off Maria Island warming more quickly than the rest of the world
WATERS off Maria Island on Tasmania’s East Coast will be as warm as those at Batemans Bay in New South Wales as early as 2060, according to a new Senate Inquiry report.
7 December, 2017
The report into the impacts of climate change on marine fisheries and biodiversity was tabled in Federal Parliament yesterday, with Tasmania a key focus.
IMAS scientist Professor Stewart Frusher told the inquiry that waters off Maria Island were already as warm as waters off Eden in southern New South Wales were in the 1940s.
His colleague Dr Neville Barrett said the waters near Maria Island would warm to the same temperatures as those off Batemans Bay by “at best case, 2100 and, at worst case, 2060.”
The warming is related to the increased strength of the East Australian Current.
The CSIRO submitted that “for the Tasmanian coast, it is expected the water will continue to warm faster than the rest of the world as more warm East Australian water moves southward ...”
Tasmanian Greens Senator Peter Whish-Wilson instigated the inquiry after a marine heatwave hit Tasmania’s East Coast in 2015-16, with temperatures 2.9C above average for 250 days.