Temperatures of the world’s oceans hit a record-breaking high in 2019. Experts say its a troubling sign of the planet’s “irrefutable and accelerating” heat.
Oceans are the most apparent measure of the climate crisis that the earth and its inhabitants face today. This is because oceans absorb over 90% of the heat caused by the greenhouse effect. Greenhouse gasses accelerate global warming as it is incessantly emitted by the continuous burning of fossil fuels, forest destruction, and other human activities.
A recent analysis presents how the past five years are the top five warmest recorded in the ocean. The past 10 years are also at the top 10 of the highest temperatures recorded. To give a better understanding, The Guardian describes the oceans’ rising temperatures “to every person on the planet running 100 microwave ovens all day and all night.”
But these recorded temperatures don’t just show signs of how the climate emergency continues to worsen. The hotter the oceans get, the more destructive storms become. This disrupts the water cycle and causes more floods, droughts, wildfires, and other weather phenomena. Not to mention the unrelenting rise in sea levels as glaciers melt and disappear.
Aquatic resources are endangered as temperatures rise. Sealife is threatened as marine heatwaves sharply increase.
Professor John Abraham of Minnesota’s University of St. Thomas told the Guardian, “The oceans are really what tells you how fast the Earth is warming.”
Professor Michael Mann of America’s Penn State University said about the matter:
“We found that 2019 was not only the warmest year on record, it displayed the largest single-year increase of the entire decade, a sobering reminder that human-caused heating of our planet continues unabated.”
Shera Elliott graduated from the New Mexico State University with a major in biology and a minor in Biological Basis of Behavior & Health Care Management. Shera grew up in Los Angeles, but moved to Las Cruces for college. Shera has written for several major publications including the Albuquerque Journal and NPR. Shera is a community reporter and also covers stories important important to all Americans.