Another year, another climate record broken. In 2022, an international team of scientists measured the hottest global ocean temperatures in human history.
That makes 2022 the seventh year in a row that sea temperatures have reached new highs.
The record is based on two international timelines of ocean heat data dating back to the 1950s: one by government researchers in the United States and the other by government researchers in China.
Both sets of data show that ocean waters as deep as 2,000 meters (about 6,600 feet) are now absorbing 10 zettajoules (ZJ) more heat than they will in 2021. That’s 100 times more energy than the world’s electricity bill each year.
With a so-called high specific heat capacity, wWater is exceptionally good at absorbing large amounts of thermal energy without a rapid rise in temperature. In addition, the oceans contain a lot of water. But storing 10 ZJs in an oceanic bank is not without consequences.
On Earth, the world’s oceans absorb 90 percent of the excess heat in our atmosphere, and the effect is like a sponge absorbing water fundamentally change the density, dynamics and structure of the sea.
Today, the contrast in ocean salinity has reached an all-time high. In the Pacific Ocean and East Indian Ocean, scientists say seawater is getting much fresher. But in the mid-latitude Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea and the West Indian Ocean, the sea water becomes much saltier.
“Salt areas are getting saltier and fresh areas are getting fresher, and so the intensity of the hydrological cycle is steadily increasing.” explained Climate scientist Lijing Cheng from the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Basically, this means the ocean water layers aren’t mixing like they used to, disrupting the natural circulation of heat, carbon, and oxygen from the overlying atmosphere.
In 2022, for example, the heat content in the upper 2000 meters of the Pacific Ocean will have reached a record level “by a wide margin”, according to the researchers to say“which supports the extreme events observed, such as intense heat waves and oxygen deprivation, and poses a significant risk to marine life in this region.”
A reduction in mixing most likely triggered an event known as the blob; a vast and persistent warm basin of water in the Pacific Northwest that began circulating in 2013, devastating bird and marine life for years to come.
In 2022, ocean heat content in this region hit the third-highest level on record, meaning we likely haven’t seen the last blob.
It’s not just marine life that’s suffering.
The ocean and atmosphere are intimately connected, meaning warmer or saline waters could greatly affect global weather patterns and sea level rise.
When warmer waters and saltier waters become too layered in the oceanthere is a risk The ocean may not be able to absorb as much carbon as it used to. Greenhouse gases would accumulate in the atmosphere and cause severe climate impacts.
The salty waters of the earth became”the greatest ally against climate change‘ because they serve as a bulletproof vest against the worst of climate strikes. But there is only a limited number of hits the ocean can take before it falls too.
Despite warning after warning, very little has been done to stem the ongoing rise in greenhouse gas emissions, meaning the oceans continue to be absorbed our increasing pollution.
Since the 1980s, researchers have found a three to fourfold increase in ocean warming. In 2022, the level of stratification measured in ocean waters was among the seven best on record.
“Until we reach net-zero emissions, this warming will continue, and we will continue to break records for ocean heat content, as we have done this year.” says Climate scientist Michael Mann from the University of Pennsylvania.
“Better awareness and understanding of the oceans is a basis for countermeasures climate change.”
An extreme climate is our reality and our future. How extreme is up to us.
The study was published in Advances in atmospheric science.
