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https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/feb/01/extreme-heat-oceans-passed-point-of-no-return-high-temperatures-wildlife-seas>
"Extreme heat in the world’s oceans passed the “point of no return” in 2014 and
has become the new normal, according to research.
Scientists analysed sea surface temperatures over the last 150 years, which
have risen because of global heating. They found that extreme temperatures
occurring just 2% of the time a century ago have occurred at least 50% of the
time across the global ocean since 2014.
In some hotspots, extreme temperatures occur 90% of the time, severely
affecting wildlife. More than 90% of the heat trapped by greenhouse gases is
absorbed by the ocean, which plays a critical role in maintaining a stable
climate.
“By using this measure of extremes, we’ve shown that climate change is not
something that is uncertain and may happen in the distant future – it’s
something that is a historical fact and has occurred already,” said Kyle Van
Houtan, at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, US, and one of the research team.
“Extreme climate change is here, it’s in the ocean, and the ocean underpins all
life on Earth.”
Van Houtan and his colleague Kisei Tanaka are ecologists and began the study
because they wanted to assess how heat extremes were related to the loss of
kelp forests off the coast of California."
Via Doug Senko.
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
