Ocean Warming Rate Doubles, WIll Be Unstoppable Through 2100; What Happens Next?

The warming of the oceans is accelerating. Here is what may occur next. According to a report, the upper reaches ocean has been warmer since the 1950s.

(Photo : Silas Baisch/Unsplash)

Recent Study

According to Nature.com, the temperature of seas have been rising for decades. This trend is increasing and threatens to fuel more powerful storms, destroy marine ecosystems, and disrupt the lives and livelihoods of millions of people.

The study, which was published this week in the journal Nature Reviews, reveals that the planet's highest ocean layers, or around the top 2,000 meters, or just over a mile, have been warming since at least the 1950s, with the Atlantic and Southern seas showing the most pronounced changes.

Data published in the Washington Post suggests that the heating has accelerated over time and has gradually penetrated deeper and deeper depths, according to the review's authors, who include experts from China, France, the United States, and Australia. The experts predict that this warming, which is expected to be unstoppable through the year 2100, will continue and lead to the formation of additional hotspots across the world, particularly if greenhouse gas emissions are not drastically and quickly reduced by humans.

Also Read: How Will Coral Reefs Survive a Warming Planet?

Increasing Heat

Coral sea life on the Great Barrier Reef

(Photo : Nico Smit/Unsplash)

The results highlight the crucial role that the seas have played in mitigating the effects of human emissions (oceans absorb more than 90% of the surplus heat trapped in the atmosphere), as well as the serious consequences if the warming trend continues unchecked. If so, the scientists predicted that the ocean's surface regions might become two to six times warmer than they are now.

Kevin E. Trenberth, a researcher at the National Center for Atmospheric Research and a co-author of the assessment, stated in an interview from New Zealand that "ocean warming does indicate global warming." "The ocean warming record is the best single sign that the globe is warming."

He said the record, made up of hundreds of temperature readings taken worldwide over several decades, has a "relentless" trend. He says the fastest warming rates have occurred in the past ten years. "The warming has been escalating," he stated.

The effects of warmer waters are already evident in a variety of ways.

According to scientists, the effects of thermal expansion in ocean water are responsible for around 40% of the worldwide sea level increase. Rising sea levels result from faster ice sheet melting and warmer waters. They alter regular weather patterns and, in certain places, exacerbate drought. Additionally, they intensify hurricanes and set the stage for more devastating flooding and severe rain.

Potential Impacts

The research also revealed that potential warming might result in abrupt declines in some fisheries, resulting in the loss of livelihoods and food sources. Additionally, the tendency makes it "inevitable" that marine heat waves would increase in size and duration, which has the potential to lead to toxic algal blooms and significantly increase the death of coral reefs, kelp forests, and other ocean life.

Can It Still Be Mitigated?

Even if humanity starts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the authors make it clear that seas are expected to continue rising over the coming decades. However, this warming will not occur uniformly over the planet. Some locations are expected to warm more quickly than others and are likely to have more severe effects, mostly because of circulation patterns.

However, scientists claim that how much warming there will be in the future will rely on what we humans do - or don't - to reduce the greenhouse gases that eventually heat the oceans. The problem should also be adequately measured, understood, and mitigated worldwide.