A statistical analysis of some trends in sea temperature and climate in the Plymouth area in the last 70 years

Abstract

Southward & Butler (1972) discussed changes in sea and air temperature in the Plymouth area this century, and showed that there was an increase from about 1900 to 1945 followed by a decrease. In the present analysis the data, updated to 1974, have been subjected to a more rigorous statistical treatment, made possible by the availability of a computer; inshore and offshore sea temperatures have been compared in greater detail, and sea-bed temperatures included. The results are described and discussed in relation to the biological changes that have been observed in the western English Channel during the same period. Data on rainfall and westerly weather have also been examined, and correlated with the temperature values.