The Ocean Trends Continue to Head in the Wrong Direction

Earlier this week I posted a video on the alarming trends with our planet’s oceans. Not only are they rising, but water temperatures have been escalating for almost a decade.

Thanks to El Niño things are getting worse. Since mid-March the world’s oceans have been hotter than any time since 1982. On the plus side warmer ocean temps make for a pleasant swim. Unfortunately, they also are major contributor to extreme weather events.

The current situation is a byproduct of La Niña giving way to El Niño. When that happens large amounts of ocean heat is drawn up toward the ocean surface.

La Niña and El Niño are naturally occurring events that in isolation are no cause for concern. Under normal conditions they cause ocean temperatures to rise and fall in a stairstep pattern. But what has scientists concerned is the accumulation of ocean heat throughout all depths.

The oceans act like a heat sink. They absorb over 90% of the extra heat in the atmosphere. The byproduct is that ocean heat content measured in a column of water from the surface to a depth of about a quarter mile hit a record in 2022. That is causing currents that send heat and nutrients around the world to shift. None of these changes are particularly good news.

Keep an eye on global average surface temps during this El Niño as it progresses from summer to fall. It may signal new temperature records and even more climate and weather trouble ahead.

Earlier this week I posted a video on the alarming trends with our planet’s oceans. Not only are they rising, but water temperatures have been consistently escalating for almost a decade.

Thanks to El Niño things are getting worse. Since mid-March the world’s oceans have been hotter than any time since 1982. On the plus side warmer ocean temps make for a pleasant swim. Unfortunately, they also a major contributor to extreme weather events.

The current situation is a byproduct of La Niña giving way to El Niño. When that happens large amounts of ocean heat is drawn up toward the ocean surface.

La Niña and El Niño are naturally occurring events that in isolation are no cause for concern. Under normal conditions they cause ocean temperatures to rise and fall in a stairstep pattern. But what has scientists concerned is the accumulation of ocean heat throughout all depths.

The oceans act like a heat sink. They absorb over 90% of the extra heat in the atmosphere. The byproduct is that ocean heat content measured in a column of water from the surface to a depth of 2,000 meters (about a mile and a quarter) hit a record in 2022. That in turn is causing a shift in the currents that send heat and nutrients around the world. None of these changes in patterns are particularly good news.

Keep an eye on global average surface temps during this El Niño as it progresses from summer to fall. It may signal new temperature records and even more climate and weather trouble ahead.

Image by macrovector on Freepik