Scientists warn that human-caused carbon pollution has the potential to transform the oceans into a "time bomb" for global warming, as evidenced by recent increases in sea surface temperatures. The majority of the heat from gases that warm the planet is absorbed by the oceans, which causes heat waves that harm aquatic life, shift weather patterns, and disrupt vital planet-regulating systems.
Scientists have issued a warning that this highlights an underappreciated but grave impact of climate change. Sea surface temperatures typically fall quickly from annual peaks, but this year they remained high. According to oceanographer Jean-Baptiste Sallee, who works for the French research organization CNRS, "The ocean, like a sponge, absorbs more than 90% of the increase in heat caused by human activities."
He told AFP that ocean warming is getting worse each year at an absolutely staggering rate." According to data from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) observatory that dates back to 1982, the average surface temperature of the oceans, excluding polar waters, reached 21.1 degrees Celsius at the beginning of April, surpassing the annual record of 21 degrees Celsius set in March 2016.
Despite the fact that temperatures started to drop toward the month's end, they have stayed above occasional records for about a month and a half, with fears that the approaching warming El Nino climate peculiarity could stack significantly more intensity into the environment framework. More marine heatwaves, which he described as "acting like underwater fires" and have the potential to irreversibly degrade thousands of square kilometers of underwater forests, such as kelp or corals, are the most immediate result of the rise in ocean temperatures.
Temperatures at the sea's surface that are higher could alter the ocean's crucial role in absorbing carbon from the atmosphere and disrupt the mixing of oxygen and nutrients, both of which are essential for supporting life. According to CNRS oceanographer Catherine Jeandel, "As the water is warmer, there will be increased evaporation, a high risk of more intense cyclones, and possible consequences on ocean currents."
In addition, water column temperatures are rising, and the heat does not disappear. Excess heat that has been stored in the oceans of the world is expected to eventually return to the Earth's system and accelerate warming. "As we heat it up, the ocean becomes a little bit like a time bomb," Jeandel stated.
The arrival of El Nino
The end of the temporary atmospheric phenomenon known as La Nina, which typically has a cooling effect, and the anticipated arrival of its warming opposite, El Nino, could account for the recent record. According to Sallee, one of the key authors of the landmark UN reports on climate change, "the deep ocean releases heat to the surface during El Nino years and warms the atmosphere." However, scientists have warned that the real issue is the rise in temperature over the next few decades.
On Twitter, climate scientist David Ho, a professor at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, stated that "2023 doesn't look too out of place relative to other El Nino years." This is because of the background rise in sea surface temperatures. "The long-term trend in sea surface temperature should alarm us,"
Heating of the Ocean
In January, a global gathering of scientists said heat content in the upper seas in 2022 surpassed the earlier year's levels by around 10 Zettajoules comparable to multiple times the power created overall in 2021. Surface temperatures have been steadily rising since the late 1950s, according to records that go back to around 1985.
While the ocean's surface answers moderately rapidly to an Earth-wide temperature boost, the profound sea "ordinarily changes over hundreds of years to centuries", said Karina Von Schuckmann, a scientist who spends significant time in sea observing at Mercator Sea Worldwide.
She stated that the amount of heat in the ocean will continue to increase long after surface temperature stabilizes, just like the sea level rise that will occur over hundreds of years as a result of current carbon emissions. At the end of the day, projections recommend that memorable sea warming is irreversible for hundred years, with a definitive net warming ward on our outflows.
For Frederic Hourdin, research chief at the CNRS Dynamic Meteorology Lab, the furthest down-the-line surface temperature ought to bring issues to light of the greater environmental change picture. He stated that we are still clearly "not sufficiently aware that the objective is to do without oil and coal." This is evident.
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