CSR: World Oceans Are Heating At Record Speed
Generally, the focus is kept on rising air temperatures when considering global warming. However, the oceans absorb more than 90% of the excess heat trapped by human emissions of greenhouse gases. Taking this into account, scientists have found that 2018 was the hottest year ever recorded for oceans and that they are warming even faster than previously estimated.
Using multiple measurement devices, scientists from across the globe found that the amount of heat in the upper part of the world’s oceans in 2018 was the highest ever recorded since observations began in the 1950s. In fact, the past five years are the warmest years on record and the increase in ocean heat has been accelerating since the 1990s.
Scientists have also found that the oceans are warming faster than data previously published in a 2013 landmark report by the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Studies now show that in recent decades, the rate of warming in the upper ocean – the top 2,000 meter or 6,500 feet layer of the ocean – was about 40% higher than the earlier IPCC estimates showed. The new data, made possible by vast improvements to ocean heat records in recent years, is also consistent with model projections of ocean warming.
Rising ocean temperatures are a major concern for societies and ecosystems across the globe. This is because hotter oceans lead to the following problems:
- Rising sea levels when water molecules expand from increasing temperatures and then erode coasts, threaten infrastructure and contaminate freshwater with intruding salt water.
- Heavier downpours and widespread flooding because more ocean water evaporates as temperatures increase, supplying the atmosphere with more moisture.
- More destructive hurricanes because of the increased moisture in the air and higher sea levels that worsen storm surges.
- Dying coral reefs as the corals’ colourful algae, their main food source, leave the corals due to heat stress. This bleaches corals of their vivid colours, causing them to starve while affecting the survival of thousands of species that live in the reefs.
- Fish moving towards poles because their current habitats are becoming too warm, disrupting fisheries.
The warning by the oceans needs to be taken seriously. We need to act fast to tackle climate change to ensure that our beloved planet is habitable for our future generations.
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The CSR Journal Team
