Ocean warming 4 times faster than in 1980s — and likely to accelerate in coming decades – Livescience.com
buoy in water off shore Miami Florida
Ocean warming has more than quadrupled in recent decades and is likely to accelerate even faster if humanity fails to address climate change, scientists find.
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Earth’s oceans are getting warmer at an accelerating rate, researchers find — indicating that climate change is speeding up too.The scientists found that ocean warming has more than quadrupled over the past 40 years and is likely to accelerate even faster in the future. The researchers published their findings in a new study published Tuesday (Jan. 28) in the journal Environmental Research Letters.The rate of sea surface temperature warming has risen from 0.1 degrees Fahrenheit (0.06 degrees Celsius) per decade in the 1980s to 0.5 F (0.27 C) per decade today. The team’s modeling suggests that this amount of accelerated warming will occur again in the next two decades and accelerate by an even greater margin if we don’t address the causes of climate change and move away from fossil fuels, according to the study.Study lead author Christopher Merchant, a professor in ocean and Earth observation at the University of Reading, U.K., said the oceans generally dictate the pace for global warming as a whole because they are Earth’s main heat sink and absorb heat from the atmosphere. This means if ocean warming is accelerating, then it’s a sign that climate change is accelerating too.”Nature might do something different next, but on current trends, the world is warming faster than we have been used to,” Merchant told Live Science in an email. “That means all the impacts are coming at us faster.”Global warming drives rising sea levels that threaten coastal communities, fuels more extreme weather and dries out land, compromising our ability to grow food. Scientists have warned that unchecked climate change will bring untold suffering to billions of people while driving a third of Earth’s species to extinction.Related: 2024 was the hottest year on record, and the 1st to breach the 1.5 C global warming limit, data revealsGet the world’s most fascinating discoveries delivered straight to your inbox.Merchant and his colleagues used satellite data to model changes in average global sea surface temperatures over multiple decades. The team found an upward trend of warming alongside natural variations driven by events such as El Niño.The team linked the accelerated ocean warming to climate change and Earth taking in more energy than it’s emitting — a phenomenon called Earth’s energy imbalance. Greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide (CO₂) and methane (CH4) trap heat in the atmosphere, which warm up the planet, and subsequently the oceans. This process, along with other human activities and natural variations, is a significant driver of Earth’s energy imbalance, which has doubled within the last two decades.—Watch Greenland lose 563 cubic miles of ice in under 30 seconds in disturbing new time-lapse video—Scientists say sprinkling diamond dust into the sky could offset almost all of climate change so far — but it’ll cost $175 trillion—Catastrophic tipping point in Greenland reached as crystal blue lakes turn brown, belch out carbon dioxideMerchant noted that the warming ocean trend has picked up in the last 15 years because Earth is absorbing more sunlight as well as heat trapped by greenhouse gases. Researchers believe this increased sunlight absorption is linked to reduced cloud cover, meaning more sunlight penetrates Earth. Global warming also reduces snow and ice cover that would otherwise reflect sunlight back into space.The study authors noted that the rate of surface ocean warming, and therefore global warming, over the last four decades isn’t a guide for what’s to come, and that much greater warming is expected if climate change isn’t successfully mitigated.”If we want to stabilize the climate, we should multiply our efforts to power our lifestyles without fossil fuels,” Merchant said. “The good news is that significant transformation is already underway worldwide.”Patrick Pester is the trending news writer at Live Science. His background is in wildlife conservation and he has worked with endangered species around the world. Patrick holds a master’s degree in international journalism from Cardiff University in the U.K.Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.Catastrophic tipping point in Greenland reached as crystal blue lakes turn brown, belch out carbon dioxide2024 was the hottest year on record, and the 1st to breach the 1.5 C global warming limit, data revealsAre Atlantic Ocean currents weakening? A new study finds no, but other experts aren’t so sure.
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