Ocean warming rate nearly doubles since 2005

The pace of ocean warming has nearly doubled since 2005 as global temperatures rise due to human-induced climate change, according to a report by European Union watchdog agency Copernicus on Monday.

The findings from Copernicus Marine Services show the impact of global warming on the oceans, which cover 70% of the Earth's surface and are regulators of climate change.

Copernicus oceanographer Karina von Schuckmann told reporters that ocean warming had been "ongoing" since the 1960s but had accelerated since 2005. In the past two years, heating costs have almost doubled, from 0.58 watts per square metre to 1.05 watts per square metre in the long term. "Ocean warming can be seen as a reflection of global warming," said von Schuckmann, an expert on the oceans' special role in global climate.

These findings echo the conclusions of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

The IPCC says about 90% of the warming since the 1970s is in the atmosphere from carbon dioxide emissions and other carbon dioxide absorbed by the oceans. Ocean warming affects global weather patterns and where precipitation occurs, causing hurricanes, typhoons and other extreme weather events. Copernicus said the report included "record-breaking ocean temperatures, ocean heat transfer to the deep ocean, unprecedented sea level fall and rising winds that keep the ocean warm."

The report says that more than 20% of the world’s oceans will experience at least one episode of severe ocean warming by 2023, which will have an impact on marine life and fisheries. Such heat could lead to migration and mass mortality of some species, damage ecosystems, and disrupt food distribution by affecting deep and shallow waters.

Ocean warming will "affect every aspect of the world's oceans, from biodiversity to chemistry to critical ocean processes to currents to global climate," von Schuckmann said. Overall marine heatwaves will also be longer.

According to the latest Copernicus State of the Ocean Report, the average annual length of extreme heat events has doubled since 2008, from 20 to 40 days. Citing scientific data, von Schuckmann said waters in the northeastern Arctic Barents Sea have turned into a "marine tropical state" compared to past subtropical waters.

Sea ice in the world’s northern regions will also reach its lowest level on record in 2023. The report noted that in August 2022, temperatures off the coast of the Balearic Islands near Spain reached 29.2 degrees Celsius, the highest in 40 years. In the same year, sea temperatures in the Mediterranean extended up to 1,500 meters below the water surface, for example, the heat reaching deep into the ocean.

Ocean acidity also increased by 30 percent??? ...

Once the threshold is crossed, ocean acidity erodes minerals that marine life such as corals, mussels and oysters use to build bones and shells.