A new study from the University of Reading in the UK finds the tops of our oceans are warming more than four times faster than in the late 1980s. Several theories have been suggested for the excess heat beyond what was expected from the El Niño and known rates of increasing CO2.
meteorologist Chris Merchant and colleagues used satellite data records since 1985 to calculate the change in the rate of sea surface warming.
They found the underlying rate of warming was about 0.06 °C back in the 80s, but that’s now increased to 0.27 °C per decade. The team notes this is not a linear increase but an accelerating one.
While some of the excess heat was indeed driven by the recent El Niño, the researchers calculate that about 44 percent of it was due to the oceans absorbing heat much faster than anticipated over the last decade.
With all that excess energy already decimating wildlife en masse, leaving millions hungry from destroyed crops, and exacerbating diseases and other health conditions, it’s hard to fathom how much worse this will rapidly get.
Every little thing we can do to reduce our fossil fuel emissions now will save future lives, regardless of what point we’re at along this dark timeline.
— source sciencealert.com | 29 Jan 2025