The Atlantic Ocean at the Cliffs of Moher in Co.Clare: the west coast offers opportunities to develop special marine habitatsGlobal sea surface temperatures have been at an all-time record high for an entire year. This almost went unnoticed amid unrelenting extreme weather events but, like the rise in sea levels , it is a slow but inexorable trend.
The marine heatwaves that struck Ireland and across the world last summer were reminders of what risk this brings. Off the north west coast, sea temperatures were up to 5 degrees above normal. Rising temperatures may cause fish and other species in Irish waters to move to cooler northern latitudes.