According to a new report by 20 scientists, the ocean will reach its highest level on record in 2022 for the fourth year in a row. Previous heat records he has been broken in 2021, 2020 and 2019, with the top six hottest levels all occurring in the last six years.
This is an ominous sign of the rate of global warming.
The world’s oceans are giant heat sinks, absorbing 90% of the excess heat in the atmosphere. Also, the atmosphere is warming rapidly due to greenhouse gas emissions, so the oceans are absorbing more and more heat over time.
The new record comes just days after scientists from Europe’s Copernicus Climate Change Service announced that 2022 would be the fifth hottest year on record. According to the agency, 2016, 2020, 2019, and 2017 all ranked in the top five as well.
It’s all part of the long-term pattern of global warming, oceans and atmosphere.
According to an ocean report led by Lijing Cheng, a scientist at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, every decade since 1958 (when scientists first started keeping reliable ocean heat measurements), the ocean has been hotter than the last. increase. And warming is accelerating over time. Since the late 1980s, the rate at which the ocean stores heat has increased three to four times, he said.
Some regions are warming faster than others. In 2022, four major watersheds, including the North Pacific, North Atlantic, Mediterranean and Southern Ocean, set new regional heat records.
That’s not all. The report also found that the ocean is becoming more stratified. This means that the warm and cold water masses don’t mix easily, instead they’re layered on top of each other like cake layers.
Stratification can make it difficult for heat, oxygen and vital nutrients to be transported throughout the water column. I have.
Rising ocean temperatures will have serious consequences for the rest of the planet.
Water expands when it heats up. That means the ocean stores more heat, so it takes up more space and contributes to sea level rise.
Warming oceans are also contributing to changes in weather patterns around the world. They are having a major impact on the global water cycle, causing more severe droughts in some places and more extreme rainfall in others. Warm waters also fuel tropical cyclones and increase the intensity of hurricanes.
Last year also saw record extreme weather events around the world. Europe experienced an unprecedented summer heat. China has been hit by a record drought. The United States has been hit by heat waves, wildfires, floods and hurricanes. According to a recent NOAA report, the United States will experience her 18 climate-related disasters in 2022, each exceeding her $1 billion in damages.
Climate models predict these patterns will continue as the world continues to warm. Meanwhile, the ocean continues to steadily absorb more heat.
Michael Mann, a climate scientist at the University of Pennsylvania and study co-author, said: statement. “Increasing awareness and understanding of the ocean is the basis for action to combat climate change.”
Reprinted from E&E News with permission of POLITICO, LLC. Copyright 2023. E&E News provides essential news for energy and environmental professionals.
