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Oceans warmed to record levels in 2020, which is likely to have
serious impacts on marine ecosystems.(Supplied: Grant Thomas, The Ocean Agency)
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Key Points
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That quantity — expressed numerically as 20,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 joules — is equivalent to the energy from 10 Hiroshima atomic bombs being released every second of the year.
Report co-author Kevin Trenberth, from the US National Center for Atmospheric Research, said oceans absorbed more than 90 per cent of the solar energy trapped by greenhouse gases.
"There's a tremendous amount of energy that's actually involved in this — it's not surprising that it has consequences," he said.
"Since about the mid-1990s, at least, the oceans have been warming very steadily.
"In fact, they are the best single indicator that the planet is warming."
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The mercury has been rising steadily since the 1990s.(Supplied: Kevin Trenberth) |
The study came as scientists confirmed that global air temperatures in 2020 were equal to 2016 — the hottest on record — and as Australia experienced its fourth hottest year on record.
"The ocean is a key controller of the climate that we see on the continent of Australia," CSIRO oceanographer Bernadette Sloyan said.
She said warmer oceans could lead to increases in extreme weather.
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The seas to the north-east of Australia (yellow and red) are warmer
than average water because of La Niña.
(Supplied: earth.nullschool.net) |
"We've already dialled in what we're going to see over the next 20, 30, 40 years."That's because the oceans have the heat and will slowly release it back to the atmosphere and impact weather and severe weather events."
She said increased heat was also directly affecting ecosystems like coral reefs.
"Corals live within a really small temperature range," Dr Sloyan said.
"Once we exceed those temperature ranges – and if we exceed them for long periods of times – we have significant coral bleaching."
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Coral bleaching is a direct result of increased ocean temperatures.
(Supplied: The Ocean Agency) |
Australia's south-east has been identified as an ocean surface warming hotspot, according to Jessica Benthuysen, an oceanographer with the Australian Institute of Marine Science.
"We've had a number of dramatic marine heat waves in the Tasman Sea over the past five years, including in 2016," she said.
"That was the longest, most intense marine heat wave on record — and that was associated with a shift in fish species and Pacific Oyster Mortality Syndrome for the first time."
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Sea surface temperatures to the south-east of Australia are
increasing at twice the global average.
(Supplied: Bureau of Meteorology) |
Eight of the 10 warmest years on record have occurred since 2010.
Links
- Warm Arctic temperatures drive 2020 to equal world's hottest year record
- BOM's preliminary 2020 data is in and it was the fourth hottest year on record
- Climate Crisis: Record Ocean Heat In 2020 Supercharged Extreme Weather
- More Than Half Of World's Oceans Already Being Affected By Climate Change
- Climate Change Will Make World Too Hot For 60 Per Cent Of Fish Species
- Rising Tides, Troubled Waters: The Future Of Our Ocean
- (AU) Unwelcome Sea Change: New Research Finds Coastal Flooding May Cost Up To
- 20% Of Global Economy By 2100
- (AU) We Can't Beat The Planet Into Submission. We Can Retreat
- (AU) Wamberal Beach Erosion: Seawall Would Deliver No Net Benefit, Study Finds
- (AU) How Coastal Communities On Victoria's Bellarine Peninsula Are Dealing With The Reality Of Sea Level Rises
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