Seeking respite from heat in water? Not so much in parts of Florida this week

One wouldn’t look for relief from sweltering summer temperatures in a steaming jacuzzi, yet that’s what the ocean seemed like in certain areas of Florida recently.

However, researchers pointed out that the context of the reading on Monday is complex.

“There was barely any distinction between the sticky air and the ocean water,” commented Chelsea Ward, a resident of Fort Myers, Florida.

Unprecedented ocean temperatures even in Florida, familiar with scorching heat and a refuge for many snowbirds fleeing cold northern winters, were surprising. A number of neighboring regions hit around 35 degrees Celsius (mid-90s Fahrenheit). A storm eventually arrived on Wednesday, helping to bring the water temperatures down to the more comfortable range of about 29 Celsius (80s Fahrenheit).

Sea temperatures in South Florida reached bath-like levels, potentially setting a global record for the warmest seawater.

Every summer, millions of people flock to the beach and the pool for a refreshing swim and a break from work and worries. But when the water temperature rises too high, the charm is lost.

Ward, 47, no longer keeps her beach bag in her car, despite living close to the beach in Fort Myers. The water has been too warm recently. When her friend proposed a beach trip on Sunday, they decided against it after finding out the water temperature was about 32 degrees Celsius (90 degrees Fahrenheit).

The body cools down by sweating, which then evaporates and dissipates heat. Normally, diving into the ocean feels so invigorating because heat efficiently transfers from your body into the water. But that effect diminishes as water temperatures rise, according to Michael Mullins, a toxicologist and emergency medicine physician at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis.

Bathing in a hot tub or a section of ocean water hotter than body temperature could cause heat to transfer into your body. That’s not a comfortable sensation on a sticky, hot day in Florida.

Swimming in such conditions would feel like “taking a dip in a broth,” Mullins noted.

Swimming in Florida’s overly warm waters earlier this week is not common. The water can become cloudy and there are alligators and crocodiles in the area as well.

But even elsewhere, high temperatures can make swimming less enjoyable. Phoenix saw daily highs above 43 degrees Celsius (110 degrees Fahrenheit) every day this week. Pools are warm. In Lake Havasu City, Arizona, Stefanee Lynn Thompson, 50, tried to cool down her heated pool by adding 40 ice blocks for a party she was hosting. Despite her efforts, the temperature dropped only by 4 degrees Celsius (7 degrees Fahrenheit).

“I will do anything when it’s 120 out,” said Thompson.

Recently, sea temperatures off Florida’s west coast have been a few degrees above normal, around 31-32 degrees Celsius (88 to 90 degrees Fahrenheit). Rising ocean temperatures not only impact humans but also have detrimental effects on sea corals, leading to bleaching.

Scientists announced a global heat record this July before the month even ended. Climate change is leading to a warmer planet, causing oceans to warm and storms to become more destructive. While sea surface temperatures around Florida are slightly above average, they are considerably higher in parts of the North Atlantic near Newfoundland, up to 5 degrees Celsius (9 degrees Fahrenheit) hotter than usual.

The extraordinarily high sea surface temperatures recorded earlier this week off southern Florida were the result of abundant sunlight, a lack of wind, and an absence of storms.

“In my 21 years in the Keys, I’ve never experienced 100-degree temperatures in Florida Bay,” said Andy Devanas, science officer at the National Weather Service in Key West, Florida.

However, there are questions about how representative the 101.2-degree reading in Manatee Bay was. The water there is shallow and heats up quickly. Sediment can also contribute to temperature increases, according to David Roth, a forecaster with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Climate Prediction Center.

In contrast, YMCA pools in Massachusetts near Boston are around 26 to 27 degrees Celsius (78 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit). The nearby ocean is cooler as well, with sea surface temperatures off Cape Cod barely reaching about 24 degrees Celsius (mid-70s Fahrenheit) this week.

When Maria Argueta, 38, gets a break from her job at an open-air decorative plant nursery in Homestead, Florida, she opts to swim with her family.

“The heat is more intense this year,” she stated.

The warm ocean water doesn’t bother her, but sometimes she takes her 2-year-old son and other family members to the Venetian Pool, a public facility in Coral Gables fed by water from an aquifer that always stays in the 70s. The very cool water, she said, is invigorating.

Florida’s humidity makes it harder for sweat to evaporate and cool the body down. Residents of south Florida are well aware that the ocean doesn’t offer much relief from the suffocating heat.

“Swimming doesn’t really provide any cooling,” Roth noted. “People in South Florida don’t really go into the water in the summer, except for swimming, because it’s comfortable, but not refreshing.”

This report has contributions from Seth Borenstein from Washington, Dupuy from New York, and Phillis from St. Louis. The Big Big News receives support from the Walton Family Foundation for coverage of water and environmental policy. The AP is solely responsible for all content. For all of AP’s environmental coverage, visit https://bigbignews.net/climate-and-environment.

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