<
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/aug/24/worlds-oceans-hit-hottest-temperature-on-record-in-august>
"The world’s oceans were hotter than ever previously recorded on Saturday,
according to the latest data.
The average surface temperature was 21.1C, with the rising marine heat a stark
indicator of the climate crisis. More than 90% of the heat trapped by carbon
dioxide from fossil fuel burning enters the oceans.
Hotter oceans exacerbate the sea level rise and extreme storms that threaten
billions of people, as well as driving marine heatwaves that decimate sea life
and undermine coastal livelihoods, scientists warned.
The northern hemisphere summer has already been hit by record-breaking
heatwaves, drought and wildfires in Europe and North America, and intense rain
and typhoons in Asia.
The ocean heat spike is being intensified by a fast developing El Niño event,
which is set to be the hottest in at least a century. El Niño events are
natural climate variations that raise global temperature and change weather
patterns, with serious impacts around the world. The new El Niño has already
delivered low monsoon rain in India, major wildfires in Indonesia and
heightened fire concerns in Australia.
The new ocean heat record being set in August is especially remarkable as
global sea temperatures are typically highest in March and April, after the
austral summer. The southern hemisphere has significantly more ocean area than
the northern.
“The record is another clear signal of an ocean under growing stress,” said Dr
Samantha Burgess, at the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service
(C3S), which produced the new data. “El Niño is adding heat to the system, but
it is doing so on top of decades of human-driven warming. The consequences are
already visible: the number of marine heatwave days globally has more than
tripled since the early 1990s.”"
Via Susan ****
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
