The climate crisis has multiplied three times in the length of the thermal waves of the oceans, and a study has found, and it found fatal storms and destroy critical ecosystems such as sea herbal forests and coral reefs.
Half of the sea heat waves will not occur since 2000 without global heating, which is the reason for burning fossil fuels. The scientists said that the heat waves not only became more frequent, but also more intense: 1c warmer on average, but also hotter in some places.
The research is the first comprehensive assessment of the effect of the climate crisis on heat waves in the world’s oceans, and reveals deep changes. The hottest oceans also absorb less than carbon dioxide emissions that lead temperatures to the top.
“Here in the Mediterranean, we have some sea thermal waves that are hotter,” said Dr. Marta Marcus at the Mediterranean Institute for Advanced Studies in Mayorca, Spain, which led the study. “It is terrible when you go to swim. It looks like soup.”
In addition to the underwater destroyed ecosystems, such as the sea grass, Marcus said: “The warmer oceans provide more energy for strong storms that affect people in the coast and interior.”
One disastrous example was Intensive rain that caused catastrophic floods in Libya In 2023, which is 11,000 people were killed. It was 50 times more likely through global heating, which sparked temperatures in the Mediterranean by 5.5 degrees Celsius. This led to more water vapor and thus more rain.
“The only solution is to reduce fossil fuel burning. This is a very clear relationship,” said Marcos. “More than 90 % of the additional heat [trapped by greenhouse gas emissions] It is stored in the ocean. If you stop heating the air, you will stop warming from the ocean. “
The main marine heat waves include exceptionally A long event in the Pacific Ocean In 2014-15, causing mass deaths between marine life. Beating Sea of Tasman In 2015-16 and recording sea temperatures About the United Kingdom In the Mediterranean Sea in 2023, scientists warned in 2019 that the ocean heat waves are increasing sharply, Kill sea areas of marine life Like “forest fires that take huge areas of forests”.
“The heat waves in the ocean are major risks to society, as some individual events that cause millions of dollars caused losses due to the effects of hunting and raising water industries,” said Dr. Zoe Jacobs at the National Center for Oceanic Sciences in the United Kingdom, which was not part of the study team.
the study , Posted in the facts of the National Academy of SciencesIt has been built a model of sea surface temperatures since 1940, which has been heated the climate crisis that caused it. Then compare this with the actual measurements of the oceans to show how global heating prompted temperatures. Focus on the summer heat waves, as they reach the highest temperatures and thus are the most harmful.
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The analysis revealed that there are about 15 days of severe heat annually on the surface of the ocean in the 1940s, but the number has jumped to a global average of about 50 days a year. Some areas, including the Indian Ocean, the tropical Atlantic and the West of the Pacific Ocean have 80 days of the heat wave per year, that is, one day per five.
The seas in the tropics are already warm, so the additional heat tends to increase the duration of heat waves. In the cold seas, additional heat can also raise its severity, as it appears in the Mediterranean Sea and the North Sea.
“As global temperatures continue to rise, marine heat waves will become more common and intense. Human activities mainly change our oceans. Urgent climatic measures are needed to protect marine environments,” said Dr. Xiangbo Feng of the University of Reding, who was part of the study team.
