United States: A new report from the US government has stated that the temperature of the world’s ocean surface has hit an all-time high since satellite records began, leading to marine heatwaves around the globe.
According to the climate scientists, preliminary data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) showed the average temperature at the ocean’s surface has been at 21.1 C since the start of April, beating the previous high of 21 C set in 2016.
“The current trajectory looks like it’s headed off the charts, smashing previous records,” Prof. Matthew England, a climate scientist at the University of New South Wales, shared.
Dr. Mike McPhaden, a senior research scientist at NOAA, commented that “the recent triple dip of La Nina has come to an end. This prolonged period of cold was tamping down global mean surface temperatures despite the rise of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.”
“Now that it’s over, we are likely seeing the climate change signal come through loud and clear,” Dr. McPhaden added.
La Nina periods, characterised by cooling in the central and eastern tropical Pacific and stronger trade winds, have a cooling influence on global temperatures. During El Nino periods, the ocean temperatures in those regions are warmer than usual, and global temperatures are pushed up.
According to the NOAA data, the second-hottest globally averaged ocean temperatures coincided with El Nino which ran from 2014 to 2016. The data is driven mostly by satellite observations but also verified with measurements from ships and buoys and does not include the polar regions.
Dr. Alex Sen Gupta, an associate professor at the UNSW Climate Change Research Centre, said satellites showed that on the ocean surface, temperature rises had been “almost linear” since the 1980s.
“What’s been surprising is that the last three years have also been really warm, despite the fact that we’ve had La Nina conditions. But it is now warmer still and we are getting what looks like record temperatures,” Mr. Gupta added.
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