four times faster than in the 80s

2023 and 2024 were extremely warm years globally. Atmospheric temperatures beat records and exceeded the limits self -imposed by the international community in global warming. This is only part of the story.

Climate acceleration. Because the oceans are not far behind in this rise in temperatures. According to a new study, the oceans are not only heating, but they heat up at a much greater pace What years ago.

If during the 1980s the average surface temperature of the ocean surface was 0.6º Celsius per decade, the current rhythm reaches 0.27º per decade. This represents a 350% increase in the last 35 years.

“If the oceans were a water bath, then in the 80s, the hot water tap would release water slowly, heating the water only a fraction of one degree every decade. But now the hot water tap works much faster and heating has accelerated. The way to reduce this heating is closing the tap, reducing carbon emissions and addressing zero-8, explained in a press release Chris Merchant, who led the elaboration of the study.

Balance issue. According to Explain the team Responsible for the study, the problem can be interpreted as a lack of energy balance: solar energy captured by Earth is greater than that which leaves our planet to the outer space. Therefore, the system is progressively heated.

There are different factors that influence this accumulation of energy, such as the accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere or a reduction in the amount of sunlight that our planet reflects abroad.

Factor interaction. Within the system itself, we can also observe the interaction of various phenomena. The marine surface temperature affects, for example at the atmospheric temperature and that is why, at least in part responsible for the increase in global temperatures observed in the last two years.

For example, we know that the child, a phenomenon associated with the surface temperature in a Pacific Ocean strip but with global weather repercussions. The child is a periodic phenomenon so we can break its impact on other phenomena. Comparing The last period (marked by the El Niño phenomenon) with the previous cycle, and could estimate that 44% of the increase in global temperature was attributable to this acceleration in the accumulation of heat by the ocean.

The details of the study were published In an article In the magazine Environmental Research Letters.

Also risk on the mainland. The surface temperature of the sea has repercussions on the weather and the recurrence of extreme phenomena. The case of hurricanes is paradigmatic. The thermal energy of the ocean is the “fuel” of these phenomena, so their frequency and force depend in large part on the heat on the marine surface.

Closer, the impact of the last Dana was also associated with climate change. In this case, the heat of the marine surface and the adjoining air generate a greater accumulation of moisture in the air and open the road to a greater thermal contrast that in turn generates storms of greater magnitude.

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Image | Copernicus Climate Change Service