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https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/apr/14/climate-crisis-has-tripled-length-of-deadly-ocean-heatwaves-study-finds>
"The climate crisis has tripled the length of ocean heatwaves, a study has
found, supercharging deadly storms and destroying critical ecosystems such as
kelp forests and coral reefs.
Half of the marine heatwaves since 2000 would not have happened without global
heating, which is caused by burning fossil fuels. The heatwaves have not only
become more frequent but also more intense: 1C warmer on average, but much
hotter in some places, the scientists said.
The research is the first comprehensive assessment of the impact of the climate
crisis on heatwaves in the world’s oceans, and it reveals profound changes.
Hotter oceans also soak up fewer of the carbon dioxide emissions that are
driving temperatures up.
“Here in the Mediterranean, we have some marine heatwaves that are 5C hotter,”
said Dr Marta Marcos at the Mediterranean Institute for Advanced Studies in
Mallorca, Spain, who led the study. “It’s horrible when you go swimming. It
looks like soup.”
As well as devastating underwater ecosystems such as sea grass meadows, Marcos
said: “Warmer oceans provide more energy to the strong storms that affect
people at the coast and inland.”
One disastrous example was the intense rainfall that caused catastrophic
flooding in Libya in 2023, which killed 11,000 people. It was made up to 50
times more likely by global heating, which had raised temperatures in the
Mediterranean by as much as 5.5C. That resulted in more water vapour and
therefore more rain.
“The only solution is cutting the burning of fossil fuels. This is a very clear
relationship,” said Marcos. “More than 90% of the extra heat [trapped by
greenhouse gas emissions] is stored in the ocean. If you stop warming the
atmosphere, you will stop warming the ocean.”"
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
