One recent study indicates offshore wind farms might play a role in increasing sea surface temperatures on the East Coast, though proponents have touted the resource as a cornerstone of clean energy policy, carrying little environmental cost. [emphasis, links added]
Science Advances published the peer-reviewed study on Nov. 5, authored by researchers Hyodae Seo, César Sauvage, Christoph Renkl, Julie K. Lundquist, and Anthony Kirincich and funded by the Department of Energy.
The study’s model simulations said that “cumulative reductions in wind stress due to large-scale wind farm clusters lead to sea surface warming of 0.3° to 0.4°C and a shallower mixed layer,” with offshore wind lease areas in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and New Jersey experiencing slight warming under seasonally stratified conditions in simulations based on 2017-2021.
Though the sea surface temperature warming was minimal, some energy sector experts told the Daily Caller News Foundation that the findings highlight that the electricity source presents its own impacts on the environment that many advocates have largely overlooked by viewing policy through the narrow lens of emissions alone.
“Using fully coupled ocean-atmosphere-wave model simulations for seasonally stratified conditions along the US East Coast, we show that simulated cumulative reductions in wind stress due to large-scale wind farm clusters lead to sea surface warming of 0.3° to 0.4°C and a shallower mixed layer,” the study said.
“In the coupled model, [sea surface temperature] SST increases near offshore wind farm regions are associated with wake-induced reductions in wind stress and near-surface turbulent mixing in the ocean. Although the magnitude of this warming (0.3° to 0.4°C) represents a small fraction of the large annual SST cycle in the Mid-Atlantic Bight (7° to 25°C) (50), it accounts for ~50 to 60% of the detrended summertime interannual SST variability observed on the US East Coast outer continental shelf.”
The “coupled model” drew from multiple modeling systems, including the Scripps Coupled Ocean-Atmosphere Regional (SCOAR) model, which “integrates” the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model, the Regional Ocean Modeling System (ROMS), and the WaveWatch III (WW3) model.
“Our coupled model results indicate that SST warming can exceed 2-m air temperature warming, leading to upward (ocean-to-atmosphere) heat fluxes and a tendency toward a more unstable atmospheric boundary layer,” the study said.
“These patterns of near-surface ocean warming and increased stratification are consistent with reductions in wind stress, [turbulence kinetic energy] TKE, and turbulent mixing. The resulting changes in upper-ocean processes lead to SST warming of 0.3° to 0.4°C, most pronounced near the large wind farms, including those in the MA/RI and NJ lease areas.”
Several energy policy experts told the DCNF that the study indicates that wind power’s potential environmental impact presents an irony, one also reflected in the reported harms to wildlife caused by “clean” energy technology.
“Wind turbines can be considered many things, but being ‘clean’ or ‘green’ or ‘animal friendly’ should not be an option. The irony: the solution to warming causes more warming,” publisher of ClimateDepot.com Marc Morano told the DCNF.
“This new study adds to the growing body of evidence on the negative impacts of offshore wind power. Previous research and data have already implicated offshore wind in harming marine mammals, but this new study goes further, revealing that instead of preventing warming, offshore wind causes it!”
The paper notes that the simulations show in the New Jersey region that:
“[W]arming extends broadly along the coast, with stronger warming in 2017, 2019, and 2021 and weaker warming in 2018 and 2020. … Similar patterns of widespread SST warming have been reported in simulations along the California coast in association with floating offshore wind farms.”
Dustin Delano, chairman and chief strategist of the New England Fishermen’s Stewardship Association (NEFSA), told the DCNF that “his study adds yet another layer of concern to what we’ve been warning about for years.”
Top photo by Bob Brewer on Unsplash
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