The average temperature of the world’s oceans has broken another record. Image: Climate Analyzer//NOAA
The average temperature of the ocean’s surface has broken another record as marine heat waves increase around the planet. According to reports from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the average temperature at the ocean’s surface has been at 21.1C since the start of April. That’s .1C higher than the previous record of 21C that was set in 2016.
“The current trajectory looks like it’s headed off the charts, smashing previous records,” professor Matthew England, a climate scientist at the University of New South Wales, told The Guardian.
The new record comes after something called a “triple-dip,” which is when three consecutive years of La Niña conditions occur in the tropical Pacific. Those La Niñas squashed temperatures and put a slight damper on the effects of rising greenhouse gasses, but researchers found that heat is rising to the surface, which likely will lead to an El Niño pattern. That pattern can lead to an increase in extreme weather events.
“Now that [the triple-dip is] over,” said Dr. Mike McPhaden, a senior research scientist at NOAA, “we are likely seeing the climate change signal coming through loud and clear.”
The data comes mostly from satellite observations, but researchers also use temperature readings from research vessels and buoys throughout the ocean. According to data collected in recent years, some 90 percent of the extra heat that comes from greenhouse gas emissions is sucked up by the ocean. That extra heat is building up in the water, warming deeper regions, and fueling bigger and more aggressive weather patterns around the world. Heat from the surface is reaching down to over 300 feet in the tropical Pacific, and that heat can add fuel to weather systems.
“What’s been surprising is that the last three years have also been really warm, despite the fact that we’ve had La Niña conditions,” said Dr. Alex Sen Gupta, an associate professor at the UNSW Climate Change Research Centre. “But it is now warmer still and we are getting what looks like record temperatures.”
There are currently a strange number of marine heatwaves around the world, including the southern Indian Ocean, the south Atlantic, northwest Africa, New Zealand, off the northeast of Australia, and the west of Central America.
“It’s unusual to see so many quite extreme marine heatwaves all at the same time,” said Gupta.
Marine heatwaves are often dictated by weather conditions near where they occur, but studies from the past two decades have found that those heatwaves are increasing as the oceans warm up. As we continue down the same path into the future, we can expect them to get worse.
