{"id":415815,"date":"2025-12-03T10:23:08","date_gmt":"2025-12-03T09:23:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=415815"},"modified":"2025-12-03T10:23:11","modified_gmt":"2025-12-03T09:23:11","slug":"the-severe-ecological-ramifications-of-offshore-windfarms-in-the-atlantic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=415815","title":{"rendered":"The Severe Ecological Ramifications of Offshore Windfarms in the Atlantic"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"723\" height=\"723\" data-attachment-id=\"415824\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?attachment_id=415824\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/AQPtMAtG4tkBTF7QZXbxfEYcs18Yw2C5xdJfvVGRh2c97vSt0cjDqCEFkTxSI0991t9NEcducU3_SCzaKulXZtPXGf-W-1ypmk_-Lsjt__UE7xoBlXn6s59_x3QSiBUGWVXIImANVf6EcbSmTRhc_3M4IFvd.jpeg?fit=1280%2C1280&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"1280,1280\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"AQPtMAtG4tkBTF7QZXbxfEYcs18Yw2C5xdJfvVGRh2c97vSt0cjDqCEFkTxSI0991t9NEcducU3_SCzaKulXZtPXGf-W-1ypmk_-Lsjt__UE7xoBlXn6s59_x3QSiBUGWVXIImANVf6EcbSmTRhc_3M4IFvd\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/AQPtMAtG4tkBTF7QZXbxfEYcs18Yw2C5xdJfvVGRh2c97vSt0cjDqCEFkTxSI0991t9NEcducU3_SCzaKulXZtPXGf-W-1ypmk_-Lsjt__UE7xoBlXn6s59_x3QSiBUGWVXIImANVf6EcbSmTRhc_3M4IFvd.jpeg?fit=723%2C723&amp;ssl=1\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/AQPtMAtG4tkBTF7QZXbxfEYcs18Yw2C5xdJfvVGRh2c97vSt0cjDqCEFkTxSI0991t9NEcducU3_SCzaKulXZtPXGf-W-1ypmk_-Lsjt__UE7xoBlXn6s59_x3QSiBUGWVXIImANVf6EcbSmTRhc_3M4IFvd.jpeg?resize=723%2C723&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"A row of offshore wind turbines stands tall in the ocean against a clear blue sky, with a small sailing boat in the distance.\" class=\"wp-image-415824\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/AQPtMAtG4tkBTF7QZXbxfEYcs18Yw2C5xdJfvVGRh2c97vSt0cjDqCEFkTxSI0991t9NEcducU3_SCzaKulXZtPXGf-W-1ypmk_-Lsjt__UE7xoBlXn6s59_x3QSiBUGWVXIImANVf6EcbSmTRhc_3M4IFvd.jpeg?resize=1024%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 1024w, 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https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/AQPtMAtG4tkBTF7QZXbxfEYcs18Yw2C5xdJfvVGRh2c97vSt0cjDqCEFkTxSI0991t9NEcducU3_SCzaKulXZtPXGf-W-1ypmk_-Lsjt__UE7xoBlXn6s59_x3QSiBUGWVXIImANVf6EcbSmTRhc_3M4IFvd.jpeg?resize=640%2C640&amp;ssl=1 640w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/AQPtMAtG4tkBTF7QZXbxfEYcs18Yw2C5xdJfvVGRh2c97vSt0cjDqCEFkTxSI0991t9NEcducU3_SCzaKulXZtPXGf-W-1ypmk_-Lsjt__UE7xoBlXn6s59_x3QSiBUGWVXIImANVf6EcbSmTRhc_3M4IFvd.jpeg?resize=1200%2C1200&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/AQPtMAtG4tkBTF7QZXbxfEYcs18Yw2C5xdJfvVGRh2c97vSt0cjDqCEFkTxSI0991t9NEcducU3_SCzaKulXZtPXGf-W-1ypmk_-Lsjt__UE7xoBlXn6s59_x3QSiBUGWVXIImANVf6EcbSmTRhc_3M4IFvd.jpeg?resize=800%2C800&amp;ssl=1 800w, 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https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/AQPtMAtG4tkBTF7QZXbxfEYcs18Yw2C5xdJfvVGRh2c97vSt0cjDqCEFkTxSI0991t9NEcducU3_SCzaKulXZtPXGf-W-1ypmk_-Lsjt__UE7xoBlXn6s59_x3QSiBUGWVXIImANVf6EcbSmTRhc_3M4IFvd.jpeg?resize=450%2C450&amp;ssl=1 450w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/AQPtMAtG4tkBTF7QZXbxfEYcs18Yw2C5xdJfvVGRh2c97vSt0cjDqCEFkTxSI0991t9NEcducU3_SCzaKulXZtPXGf-W-1ypmk_-Lsjt__UE7xoBlXn6s59_x3QSiBUGWVXIImANVf6EcbSmTRhc_3M4IFvd.jpeg?resize=60%2C60&amp;ssl=1 60w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/AQPtMAtG4tkBTF7QZXbxfEYcs18Yw2C5xdJfvVGRh2c97vSt0cjDqCEFkTxSI0991t9NEcducU3_SCzaKulXZtPXGf-W-1ypmk_-Lsjt__UE7xoBlXn6s59_x3QSiBUGWVXIImANVf6EcbSmTRhc_3M4IFvd.jpeg?resize=550%2C550&amp;ssl=1 550w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/AQPtMAtG4tkBTF7QZXbxfEYcs18Yw2C5xdJfvVGRh2c97vSt0cjDqCEFkTxSI0991t9NEcducU3_SCzaKulXZtPXGf-W-1ypmk_-Lsjt__UE7xoBlXn6s59_x3QSiBUGWVXIImANVf6EcbSmTRhc_3M4IFvd.jpeg?w=1280&amp;ssl=1 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 723px) 100vw, 723px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">From <a href=\"https:\/\/wattsupwiththat.com\/2025\/12\/01\/the-severe-ecological-ramifications-of-offshore-windfarms-in-the-atlantic\/\">Watts Up With That?<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">By <a href=\"https:\/\/wattsupwiththat.com\/author\/jeeztheadmin\/\">Charles Rotter<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-video wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-videopress\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe title=\"VideoPress Video Player\" aria-label='VideoPress Video Player' width='723' height='435' src='https:\/\/videopress.com\/embed\/r2qPfUIj?cover=1&amp;autoPlay=1&amp;loop=1&amp;playsinline=1&amp;preloadContent=metadata&amp;useAverageColor=1&amp;hd=0' frameborder='0' allowfullscreen data-resize-to-parent=\"true\" allow='clipboard-write'><\/iframe><script src='https:\/\/v0.wordpress.com\/js\/next\/videopress-iframe.js?m=1739540970'><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There is an old scientific maxim that complex systems rarely behave as planners expect. For decades, environmental policy has marched in the opposite direction\u2014insisting that ever-larger interventions can be sketched out on whiteboards, implemented by decree, and assumed to behave as the architects intend. Offshore wind development is one of the latest manifestations of this technocratic impulse. The rhetoric surrounding it is full of confidence: these vast industrial installations are treated as benevolent intrusions upon the marine environment, as if nature would politely adapt to accommodate the turbines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Yet here we have a study published in&nbsp;<em>Science Advances<\/em>, a journal not known for challenging the climate orthodoxy, suggesting that thousands of offshore turbines along the U.S. East Coast will significantly alter ocean physics,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.science.org\/doi\/10.1126\/sciadv.adw7603\">Sea surface warming and ocean-to-atmosphere feedback driven by large-scale offshore wind farms under seasonally stratified conditions.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"723\" height=\"333\" data-attachment-id=\"415816\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?attachment_id=415816\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/image-50.png?fit=1787%2C824&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"1787,824\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"image\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/image-50.png?fit=723%2C333&amp;ssl=1\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/image-50.png?resize=723%2C333&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Screenshot of a research article from the journal Science Advances, titled &quot;Sea surface warming and ocean-to-atmosphere feedback driven by large-scale offshore wind farms under seasonally stratified conditions.&quot;\" class=\"wp-image-415816\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/image-50.png?resize=1024%2C472&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/image-50.png?resize=300%2C138&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/image-50.png?resize=768%2C354&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/image-50.png?resize=1536%2C708&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/image-50.png?resize=640%2C295&amp;ssl=1 640w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/image-50.png?resize=1200%2C553&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/image-50.png?w=1787&amp;ssl=1 1787w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/image-50.png?w=1446&amp;ssl=1 1446w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 723px) 100vw, 723px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.science.org\/doi\/10.1126\/sciadv.adw7603\">https:\/\/www.science.org\/doi\/10.1126\/sciadv.adw7603<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Accepting the study\u2019s findings&nbsp;<em>at face value<\/em>, the implications for marine ecosystems are not trivial; they are structural. They challenge the notion that \u201cgreen\u201d energy infrastructure is harmless or ecologically restorative. Quite the contrary: the study describes a persistent reshaping of the upper ocean\u2014one that affects temperature, mixing, upwelling circulation, stratification, and atmospheric stability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The consequences for marine life flow directly from these physical changes. For a region whose fisheries and ecological dynamics depend heavily on subtle balances in ocean stratification, nutrient cycling, and the Mid-Atlantic Cold Pool, even small-but-persistent distortions can ripple across the food web.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The purpose of this essay is to examine those ramifications. Not through speculative catastrophism, but through careful reading of what the researchers themselves report. This post does not contest the study\u2019s methodology. It does not challenge its assumptions. It simply takes the authors at their word and asks:&nbsp;<strong>If this is correct, what happens next?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And in doing so, one encounters a great irony. The same movement that claims to champion the protection of marine ecosystems may be planting the seeds of a long-term ecological reorganization\u2014engineered not by CO\u2082 emissions, but by the physical footprint of the so-called solution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>A Study That Quietly Admits What Policy Makers Loudly Deny<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The study begins with a statement that should have immediately raised questions when offshore turbines were first proposed:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>\u201cOffshore wind farms may induce changes in the upper ocean and near-surface atmosphere through coupled ocean-atmosphere feedbacks.\u201d<\/strong>&nbsp;(p. 2)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That sentence alone would have shut down other kinds of offshore development. Imagine the regulatory reaction if an oil company casually admitted that new drilling platforms \u201cmay induce changes in the upper ocean.\u201d Yet for wind turbines, such declarations are treated as benign observations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The authors further acknowledge:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>\u201cThe role of air-sea interactions mediated by offshore wind farms remains poorly understood.\u201d<\/strong>&nbsp;(p. 2)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If one substitutes \u201cdeepwater drilling rigs\u201d or \u201cextensive trawling operations\u201d into that sentence, the precautionary principle would be invoked immediately. Instead, until the Trump administration began to intervene, offshore wind development proceeded at historic scale, while scientists only now begin studying the consequences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This is not skepticism in the cultural sense; this is skepticism in the scientific sense\u2014the active suspension of assumption until evidence is available. The study presents precisely that evidence: that large-scale wind installations do not merely sit atop the ocean surface as silent sentinels. They reshape the environment around them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Wake-Induced Changes: A Subtle Physical Distortion with Outsized Ecological Meaning<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">What the study documents is not dramatic, but persistent. And in ecological systems, consistency over time is more consequential than magnitude.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The central finding:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>\u201cSimulated cumulative reductions in wind stress due to large-scale wind farm clusters lead to sea surface warming of 0.3\u00b0 to 0.4\u00b0C and a shallower mixed layer.\u201d<\/strong>&nbsp;(p. 2)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That sentence deserves to be read twice. It is the heart of the matter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">These turbines weaken wind stress\u2014something that should surprise no one, since extracting energy from the wind must reduce the wind\u2019s momentum. But what has been largely ignored is what happens next: the ocean responds to the reduced stress by warming, restratifying, and retreating from the usual summer mixing regime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The authors quantify the structural changes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Wind speeds decrease by 20\u201330% at hub height<\/strong>\u00a0(p. 4)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Wind stress decreases by 10\u201320% within lease areas<\/strong>\u00a0(p. 6)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Ocean turbulent kinetic energy decreases<\/strong>\u00a0(p. 6; Fig. 4D)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Mixed layer depth shoals by ~20%<\/strong>\u00a0(p. 6\u20137; Fig. 3B)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Stratification increases sharply at the mixed-layer base<\/strong>\u00a0(p. 6\u20137; Fig. 3E)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Upward heat flux increases (ocean-to-atmosphere) by 3\u201310 W\/m\u00b2<\/strong>\u00a0(p. 7; Fig. 2F)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>SST warming reaches up to 1\u00b0C in some summers<\/strong>\u00a0(p. 9; Fig. 6D\u2013M)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">These are not trivial adjustments. They indicate that the entire physics of the shelf region is being nudged into a new state\u2014not by climate change, but by the turbines themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The authors phrase this in neutral scientific language, but ecological interpretation does not require activist rhetoric. Every one of these parameters\u2014mixing, stratification, upwelling, heat flux\u2014controls the availability of nutrients, the timing of phytoplankton blooms, the distribution of fish, and the structure of food webs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">They write:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>\u201cThese changes may drive oceanic and ecological responses.\u201d<\/strong>&nbsp;(p. 3)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That understated phrase is the closest the paper comes to discussing consequences. It is left to others to extend the implications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>The Mixed Layer: A Five-Meter Engine of the Atlantic\u2019s Biological Productivity<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Mid-Atlantic Bight sees a shallow summer mixed layer\u2014only about 5 meters deep. The authors emphasize this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>\u201cThe mixed layer depth\u2026 remain[s] less than 5 m near the wind farms.\u201d<\/strong>&nbsp;(p. 6)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In such environments, even a one-meter shoaling is proportionally enormous. A 20% reduction in mixed-layer depth shrinks the zone where nutrients, light, and turbulence combine to support primary productivity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The model shows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>\u201cWith the wind farms in place, the MLD decreases by about 1 m, a 20% reduction.\u201d<\/strong>&nbsp;(p. 6\u20137)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A thinner mixed layer:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Restricts nutrient entrainment<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Increases stratification<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Changes the ratio of light to nutrients<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Favors smaller phytoplankton at the expense of larger diatoms<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Alters the base of the food web<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That is not conjecture. Those are established dynamics in marine ecology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The authors further note:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>\u201cOcean warming is concentrated within the mixed layer, while cooling occurs below.\u201d<\/strong>&nbsp;(p. 6\u20137)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This creates a sharper thermocline\u2014a physical barrier to mixing. Nature does stratification on its own in summer, but the turbines are sharpening the knife.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Upwelling Weakening: The Quiet Undermining of a Fisheries Engine<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One of the most consequential findings appears in the analysis of the New Jersey coast. Offshore wind installations, by reducing alongshore wind stress, also reduce the Ekman transport that drives coastal upwelling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The study presents clear evidence:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>\u201cUpwelling-favorable alongshore wind stress is weakened shoreward of the wind farms.\u201d<\/strong>&nbsp;(p. 11; Fig. S12A)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>\u201cIn the absence of wind farms, the 21.6\u00b0C isotherm outcrops 20 to 30 km offshore\u2026 with the wind farms, it remains at the subsurface.\u201d<\/strong>&nbsp;(p. 11; Fig. S12B)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This is unambiguous: the turbines alter upwelling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Upwelling is not a side detail of oceanography. It is the mechanism that delivers nutrients into the photic zone, sets the stage for plankton bloom timing, and influences fish recruitment. The Mid-Atlantic may not have the dramatic upwelling of the California Current, but its modest upwelling pulses are critical to ecosystem function.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If the turbines consistently suppress these events\u2014something the model indicates\u2014then:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Coastal nutrient supply declines<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Primary productivity shifts<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Larval transport pathways change<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Populations that depend on cooler bottom waters (e.g., flounder, surfclams, scallops) lose thermal refuge<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">These are&nbsp;<strong>system-level<\/strong>&nbsp;impacts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The authors themselves connect the dots by citing prior research:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>\u201cLarge wind farm clusters may affect nearshore stratification and formation of the Cold Pool (a key subsurface water mass supporting regional fisheries and ecosystems).\u201d<\/strong>&nbsp;(p. 3)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Thus, even before their own analysis, the researchers admit the stakes are large.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>The Cold Pool: A Vulnerable Cornerstone of Atlantic Ecology<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Mid-Atlantic Cold Pool\u2014the mass of cool, dense bottom water that persists through summer\u2014is a defining feature of this region\u2019s ecology. It shapes species distributions, migration timing, recruitment, and survival.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The study\u2019s findings read like a recipe for perturbing this structure:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Reduced wind stress<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Weaker mixing<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Shallower mixed layer<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Increased stratification<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Altered upwelling circulation<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The authors state:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>\u201cThese patterns\u2026 are consistent with reductions in wind stress, TKE, and turbulent mixing.\u201d<\/strong>&nbsp;(p. 7)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Reduced mixing and altered upwelling are precisely the conditions that affect Cold Pool erosion and renewal. If wind farms cause summer stratification to intensify and persist, the Cold Pool may warm or shrink, shifting habitat ranges for commercially important fish and shellfish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This is not speculation; it is well-known oceanographic mechanics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Ecosystem Fragmentation: Industrial-Scale Habitat Patch Creation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The SST anomalies in the study are highly localized, forming coherent warm patches anchored to turbine arrays.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As the authors note:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>\u201cThe SST warming appears consistently in all cases and is spatially well aligned with the largest offshore wind farm areas.\u201d<\/strong>&nbsp;(p. 9)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The warming is not diffuse\u2014it is patchy. Marine organisms capable of sensing temperature differences (virtually all fish, zooplankton, and many invertebrates) will respond to these patches. Depending on species:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Some will avoid the warm zones<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Some will aggregate along the thermal edges<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Some will shift migration routes around them<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Some will find newly altered predator-prey relationships<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This is the ecological equivalent of installing dozens of parking lots across a forest and wondering if wildlife will \u201cadapt.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Nature adapts, but not always in ways humans prefer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>The Model Shows Persistent, Not Transient, Alterations<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A key observation in the time series analysis:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>\u201cSST warming emerges within days\u2026 the SST anomaly patterns show substantial temporal variability.\u201d<\/strong>&nbsp;(p. 13; Fig. 6C)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The warming does not dissipate. It oscillates within a range but remains locked to the turbine footprint across years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That persistence is significant. If marine life can count on a consistent patch of anomalously warm water, it will reorganize around that feature. What is a \u201csmall\u201d deviation to the human eye becomes a stable environmental landmark for species that rely on fine-scale cues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Elsewhere the authors add:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>\u201cThe SST warming\u2026 accounts for ~50 to 60% of the\u2026 interannual SST variability.\u201d<\/strong>&nbsp;(p. 9)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If accurate, this means the turbines are creating a signal comparable to natural year-to-year fluctuations. Ecologically, that is massive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Atmospheric Feedbacks Matter: The Ocean Becomes a Heat Source<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The study\u2019s most striking feedback mechanism is that the ocean begins transferring heat upward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As stated:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>\u201cThe warm SST response is associated with positive anomalies of 3 to 5 W\/m\u00b2\u2026 up to 10 W\/m\u00b2 off New Jersey.\u201d<\/strong>&nbsp;(p. 7; Fig. 2F)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>\u201cSST warming exceeds 2-m air temperature\u2026 leading to upward heat fluxes and a more unstable marine atmospheric boundary layer.\u201d<\/strong>&nbsp;(p. 7; Fig. 4E)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This turns the nearshore region into a modest heat engine\u2014a new thermal feature in the coastal climate system. The warmer ocean surface destabilizes the atmosphere, increasing turbulence, slightly modifying wind stress, and participating in a feedback loop that reinforces the original warming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For ecology, this is not merely a meteorological curiosity. Changes in surface turbulence affect:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Gas exchange (oxygen, CO\u2082)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Surface nutrient retention<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Larval dispersal<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Air-sea interactions that drive biogeochemical cycles<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">These are not minor couplings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Scale Matters: Thousands of Turbines Create a Regional Effect<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The study models&nbsp;<strong>1418 turbines<\/strong>&nbsp;(p. 3\u20134; Fig. 1A). At that density, wake effects are not limited to individual turbines; they merge into cluster-scale phenomena.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The authors write:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>\u201cCumulative reductions in wind stress due to large-scale wind farm clusters\u201d<\/strong>&nbsp;(p. 2)<br><strong>\u201c\u2026widespread SST warming has been reported\u2026 in association with floating offshore wind farms.\u201d<\/strong>&nbsp;(p. 9)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Large arrays behave differently than single turbines. Once clusters reach a certain size, the region behaves as a new boundary condition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Marine ecosystems evolved with seasonal cycles, not with industrial gradients anchored in fixed positions year after year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>The Authors\u2019 Understated Warnings<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The study contains several understated but serious acknowledgments:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol start=\"1\" class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>\u201cThese changes lead to a shallower mixed layer\u2026 enhanced stratification\u2026 altered upwelling.\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0(p. 12; Fig. 10B)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>\u201cThese changes may influence downstream ocean circulation and biogeochemical cycling.\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0(p. 3)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>\u201cAssessing potential oceanographic impacts\u2026 may require a coupled modeling approach.\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0(p. 2)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>\u201cUpper-ocean processes may play an important role in shaping SST responses.\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0(p. 14)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Each of these statements admits uncertainty in a system where uncertainty is risk, not permission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>The Irony: The \u201cGreen\u201d Project That Warms the Water<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The ecological implications are clear:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Surface waters warm<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Stratification increases<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Mixing weakens<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Upwelling diminishes<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Deep waters receive less energy<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Thermal anomalies persist year after year<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This is not what one expects from a supposedly climate-mitigating technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The system warms itself\u2014not through CO\u2082 emissions, but through mechanical interference with natural wind stress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The authors acknowledge:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>\u201cThe SST warming exceeds 2-m air temperature warming.\u201d<\/strong>&nbsp;(p. 7)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In other words, the warming is&nbsp;<em>not<\/em>&nbsp;driven by atmospheric climate change. It is turbine-induced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This raises a fundamental question:&nbsp;<strong>How can a technology be sold as protecting marine ecosystems if it reorganizes them?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Even if one believes in a looming climate catastrophe, the logic fails. You do not fix environmental uncertainty by imposing additional uncertainty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Historical Precedent: Technocratic Interventions Rarely Go as Planned<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Marine history is full of cases where subtle physical distortions produced large ecological reconfigurations:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Salmon runs collapsed when river temperatures rose by fractions of a degree.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>European fisheries reorganized when stratification in the North Sea shifted.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Harmful algal blooms proliferated where upwelling weakened.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Lobster populations in New England moved northward due to small temperature changes.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A 0.3\u20131\u00b0C warming anchored to industrial infrastructure is not subtle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The authors even note similar findings in Europe:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>\u201cReduced wind stress\u2026 suppresses vertical mixing\u2026 leading to stronger stratification and warming\u2026 shown to influence downstream ocean circulation and biogeochemical cycling.\u201d<\/strong>&nbsp;(p. 3, citing Christiansen et al.)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ocean ecosystems are structured around patterns of mixing, not around human preferences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>The Policy Problem: Decisions Are Being Made Before the Science Is Done<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Consider this admission:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>\u201cThe role of two-way wake-ocean interaction\u2026 remains poorly understood.\u201d<\/strong>&nbsp;(p. 3)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Yet offshore wind farms are being approved and constructed at unprecedented scale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In any other context, a statement like that would trigger a pause in development, not an acceleration. It would invite environmental review, not political slogans. But offshore wind has been insulated from scrutiny because it is sheltered under the umbrella of climate virtue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">From a scientific viewpoint, that is backwards. In a complex system, it is not the well-understood interventions that cause surprises. It is the poorly understood ones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>The Ecosystem Consequences: A Conservative, Evidence-Grounded Summary<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Taking the study entirely at face value, the following ecological ramifications are likely:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol start=\"1\" class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Reduced Nutrient Input to Surface Waters<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Shoaling of the mixed layer reduces entrainment of nutrient-rich deep water.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Reduced upwelling limits nutrient pulses to the euphotic zone.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Shift in Phytoplankton Community Composition<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Stronger stratification favors small, slow-growing phytoplankton.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Diatoms\u2014which support many fisheries\u2014decline in stratified, nutrient-poor conditions.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Changes in Zooplankton Dynamics<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Food availability changes in timing and magnitude.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Temperature shifts alter reproductive cycles.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Altered Fish Habitat and Distribution<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Species tracking cooler waters will shift away from turbine-induced warm patches.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Predation patterns and migration timing may be disrupted.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Potential Stress on Cold Pool\u2013Dependent Species<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Weakened mixing and altered upwelling may shrink or warm the Cold Pool.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Surfclams, scallops, cod, flounder, and others rely on its stability.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Increased Likelihood of Harmful Algal Blooms<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Strong stratification and warm surface layers create ideal conditions for dinoflagellate blooms.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Habitat Fragmentation<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Persistent thermal anomalies act as ecological boundaries.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Species distributions become patchier.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Long-Term Restructuring of Regional Ecosystems<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Persistent changes in stratification and upwelling could reorganize food webs.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Recovery is unlikely without removal of turbines, as the physical forcing is structural.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">These are not alarmist conclusions. They derive directly from the physics described in the paper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>The Bigger Picture: Offshore Wind as an Uncontrolled Experiment<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The most responsible way to interpret this study is not through emotional rhetoric, but through clear-eyed pragmatism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Policymakers are currently transforming large regions of the Atlantic into industrial corridors. Yet the science is only beginning to examine the consequences. The authors themselves describe their work as foundational, not definitive. They note:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>\u201cAdditional uncertainty quantification is necessary\u2026 turbulence closure approaches\u2026 may influence the evolution of simulated SST and MLD responses.\u201d<\/strong>&nbsp;(p. 14)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In other words, the model may underestimate or overestimate effects; the true impacts remain unknown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The responsible response to uncertainty is caution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The political response has been acceleration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the name of sustainability, central planners have deployed a technology whose ecological consequences they cannot predict. They presume that a system as complex as the Atlantic continental shelf will behave according to their intentions rather than according to its physics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But physics always wins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Conclusion: The Need for Real Skepticism, Not Slogans<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This essay has not attempted to argue that offshore wind turbines will cause ecological collapse. Instead, it argues for something far more modest and far more scientific:&nbsp;<strong>If you change the physics of the ocean, you change the ecology of the ocean.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The study\u2019s authors have done the scientific community a service by quantifying that physical change:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Reduced wind stress<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Shallower mixed layers<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Increased stratification<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Altered upwelling<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Persistent sea-surface warming<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Modified atmospheric boundary layer stability<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">None of this is speculative. It is what their model produced. And if we accept their work at face value\u2014as this post explicitly does\u2014then the ecological ramifications are not uncertain; they are inevitable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Not because of catastrophism, but because ocean ecology&nbsp;<em>is<\/em>&nbsp;ocean physics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The genuine skeptic\u2014the scientist who suspends disposition rather than parrots consensus\u2014must therefore acknowledge that offshore wind development in the Atlantic constitutes a large-scale environmental experiment whose outcomes are unknown, and whose risks have been systematically downplayed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It is time to retire the simplistic narrative that \u201cgreen\u201d infrastructure cannot harm ecosystems. The turbines do not know they are green. They obey no moral imperative. They only reduce wind stress. They only alter mixing. They only warm the water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And the Atlantic will respond accordingly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The consequences for marine life flow directly from these physical changes. For a region whose fisheries and ecological dynamics depend heavily on subtle balances in ocean stratification, nutrient cycling, and the Mid-Atlantic Cold Pool, even small-but-persistent distortions can ripple across the food web.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":415824,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"Explore the ecological impacts of offshore wind farms on marine ecosystems, revealing significant changes in ocean physics and biodiversity.","jetpack_seo_html_title":"Impact of Offshore Wind Farms on Marine Ecosystems Explained","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":true,"token":"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.94NzO59Il_3LtaVbKS-pUbXlVc379JT4T9xA8Ad4MfQMQ"},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691819450,691818056,691839951,691839952,691824542,691839953,691839954,691831504],"class_list":{"0":"post-415815","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-green-energy-2","9":"tag-climate-change","10":"tag-climate-orthodoxy","11":"tag-large-scale-wind-installations","12":"tag-offshore-windfarms","13":"tag-sea-surface-warming","14":"tag-sst-warming","15":"tag-trump-administration","17":"fallback-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/AQPtMAtG4tkBTF7QZXbxfEYcs18Yw2C5xdJfvVGRh2c97vSt0cjDqCEFkTxSI0991t9NEcducU3_SCzaKulXZtPXGf-W-1ypmk_-Lsjt__UE7xoBlXn6s59_x3QSiBUGWVXIImANVf6EcbSmTRhc_3M4IFvd.jpeg?fit=1280%2C1280&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1KaH","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":276248,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=276248","url_meta":{"origin":415815,"position":0},"title":"The Wind Industry\u2019s Ignored Consequences: Whales in Peril","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"29\/08\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Michael Shellenberger\u00a0has an article in the New York Post titled: New documentary \u2018proves\u2019 building offshore wind farms does kill whales","rel":"","context":"In \"Dead dolphins\"","block_context":{"text":"Dead dolphins","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=dead-dolphins"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/image-1069.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/image-1069.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/image-1069.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/image-1069.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/image-1069.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":415320,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=415320","url_meta":{"origin":415815,"position":1},"title":"Ecological Impacts of Offshore Wind Parks Are Worse Than Expected, New Study Finds","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"30\/11\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Offshore wind farms (OWPs) are considered a cornerstone of Germany\u2019s transition to renewable energies. We are told that they supply clean energy and slow down climate change.","rel":"","context":"In \"clean energy\"","block_context":{"text":"clean energy","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=clean-energy"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/AQMWzcY6Itgxb2e65dCn_78oHsrzbMEq-kZ3tGVOnjOFKdnLgm5KZSsYAdQNPyzPfmUdG4RkJ3JjgTMaKJADyCHryliK6FVtJnmmbTT9onHPCdQcqPA1krl7J_4yuo7StAKHHvsi9ih8QFLyyS3cf9mri_E.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/AQMWzcY6Itgxb2e65dCn_78oHsrzbMEq-kZ3tGVOnjOFKdnLgm5KZSsYAdQNPyzPfmUdG4RkJ3JjgTMaKJADyCHryliK6FVtJnmmbTT9onHPCdQcqPA1krl7J_4yuo7StAKHHvsi9ih8QFLyyS3cf9mri_E.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/AQMWzcY6Itgxb2e65dCn_78oHsrzbMEq-kZ3tGVOnjOFKdnLgm5KZSsYAdQNPyzPfmUdG4RkJ3JjgTMaKJADyCHryliK6FVtJnmmbTT9onHPCdQcqPA1krl7J_4yuo7StAKHHvsi9ih8QFLyyS3cf9mri_E.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/AQMWzcY6Itgxb2e65dCn_78oHsrzbMEq-kZ3tGVOnjOFKdnLgm5KZSsYAdQNPyzPfmUdG4RkJ3JjgTMaKJADyCHryliK6FVtJnmmbTT9onHPCdQcqPA1krl7J_4yuo7StAKHHvsi9ih8QFLyyS3cf9mri_E.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/AQMWzcY6Itgxb2e65dCn_78oHsrzbMEq-kZ3tGVOnjOFKdnLgm5KZSsYAdQNPyzPfmUdG4RkJ3JjgTMaKJADyCHryliK6FVtJnmmbTT9onHPCdQcqPA1krl7J_4yuo7StAKHHvsi9ih8QFLyyS3cf9mri_E.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":217068,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=217068","url_meta":{"origin":415815,"position":2},"title":"Government\u2019s green energy policy is a \u201enational disaster \u201c\u2013 Net Zero Watch","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"03\/09\/2022","format":false,"excerpt":"This has been the case since the Climate Change Act was passed in 2008 with minimal political debate, even without \u201aperverse loopholes 'in contracts. Renewable energy is in effect a license to print money.","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/image-150.png?fit=1068%2C601&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/image-150.png?fit=1068%2C601&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/image-150.png?fit=1068%2C601&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/image-150.png?fit=1068%2C601&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/image-150.png?fit=1068%2C601&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":204694,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=204694","url_meta":{"origin":415815,"position":3},"title":"Offshore Wind Industry Wiping Out Crucial Fish Breeding Grounds &#038; Fishermen\u2019s Livelihoods","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"17\/06\/2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Britain\u2019s trawlermen are tough, but not invincible. Giant industrial wind turbines and their associated infrastructure have\u00a0already wrecked once productive fishing grounds, with more under threat. The power cables that connect offshore wind turbines\u00a0are mesmerising crabs and causing biological harm\u00a0that affects their ability to migrate and breed; the same phenomenon has\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/0trawler-turbines.jpg?fit=600%2C331&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/0trawler-turbines.jpg?fit=600%2C331&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/0trawler-turbines.jpg?fit=600%2C331&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":252678,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=252678","url_meta":{"origin":415815,"position":4},"title":"Lazard: still unreliable","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"13\/04\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"The most egregious problem last time round was capex, and so it\u2019s good to see that Lazard have bumped up costs for the new edition, by 20% for their optimistic assumptions and by 40% for the pessimistic.","rel":"","context":"In \"Lazard\"","block_context":{"text":"Lazard","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=lazard"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/08MW-offshore-wind-turbine.jpg?fit=1200%2C818&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/08MW-offshore-wind-turbine.jpg?fit=1200%2C818&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/08MW-offshore-wind-turbine.jpg?fit=1200%2C818&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/08MW-offshore-wind-turbine.jpg?fit=1200%2C818&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/08MW-offshore-wind-turbine.jpg?fit=1200%2C818&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":234237,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=234237","url_meta":{"origin":415815,"position":5},"title":"Another \u201ccheap\u201d windfarm turning out expensive","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"15\/12\/2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Their refusal to admit that offshore windfarms costs are not coming down is depressing, and a fairly obvious indication that their motivations are religious rather than rational. Still, those of us who do care about facts soldier on.","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/image-431.png?fit=1200%2C632&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/image-431.png?fit=1200%2C632&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/image-431.png?fit=1200%2C632&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/image-431.png?fit=1200%2C632&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/image-431.png?fit=1200%2C632&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/415815","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/121246920"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=415815"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/415815\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":415826,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/415815\/revisions\/415826"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/415824"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=415815"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=415815"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=415815"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}