Sea surface temperature (SST) trends in the coastal zone are shown to be increasing at rates that exceed the global trends by up to an order of magnitude. This paper compiles some of the evidence of the trends published in the literature. The evidence suggests that urbanization in the coastal hinterland is having a direct effect on SST through increased temperatures of river and lake waters, as well as through heated run-off and thermal effluent discharges from coastal infrastructure. These local drivers of SST are compounded by regional drivers manifest as changing weather patterns (latent heat exchange) and direct radiative heating of shallow coastal waters (particularly in restricted embayments and seas). Thus the impact of urbanization on SST may extend well beyond the much-popularised impact of “greenhouse gasses”. The Marine Climate Change Impacts Partnership Report [37] stated that our capacity to define and predict long-term coastal changes due to anthropogenic causes is “unknown” and confidence in results is “low”. This is a major barrier to planning for inevitable changes in coastal climate that are likely to take place over the coming decades.

sea surface temperature, coastal ocean, climate change.