Extreme marine heatwaves tripled over past 80 years — Study
The number of days each year that the world's oceans experience extreme surface heat has tripled over the past 80 years due to global warming, a new study has found
- LONDON — The number of days each year that the world's oceans experience
extreme surface heat has tripled over the past 80 years due to global warming,
a new study has found.
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- Researchers found that, on average, the global sea
surface saw about 15 days of extreme heat annually in the 1940s, Xinhua news
agency reported.
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- Today that figure has soared to nearly 50 days per year,
revealed the study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy
of Sciences.
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- Global warming is responsible for almost half of the
occurrence of marine heatwaves -- periods when sea surface temperatures rise
well above normal for an extended time.
- Read: India's April heatwaves were '30 times more likely' due of climate change — Scientists
- The study, produced by a team of scientists from the
Mediterranean Institute for Advanced Studies, the University of Reading, the
International Space Science Institute, and the University of the Balearic
Islands, also found that rising global temperatures are making extreme ocean
heat events last longer and become more intense.
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- "Marine heatwaves can devastate underwater
ecosystems. Extended periods of unusually warm water can kill coral reefs,
destroy kelp forests, and harm seagrass meadows," said Xiangbo Feng, a
co-author of the study at the National Centre for Atmospheric Science at the University
of Reading.
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- The impacts of marine heat waves extend beyond the ocean.
The researcher warns that increased marine heatwaves could, in return, cause
our atmosphere less stable leading to more frequent and powerful tropical
storms in some regions.
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- “As global temperatures continue to rise, marine
heatwaves will become even more common and severe, putting increasing pressure
on already stressed ocean ecosystems. These increased marine heatwaves could,
in return, cause our atmosphere less stable leading to more frequent and
powerful tropical storms in some regions,” Feng said
