Temperatures in the world’s oceans have been at their highest for a year. Israel allows aid deliveries by sea ++ 3,500 settler apartments approved

The world’s oceans are recording extraordinary heat records. For about a year now, the average surface temperature of the North Atlantic Ocean has been at its highest daily level every day since records began about 40 years ago – usually even with a large gap with the previous daily record.

This is evident from data from the University of Maine’s ‘Climate Reanalyzer’ platform, which is based, among other things, on satellite measurements. The continuous curve of daily record temperatures in the North Atlantic Ocean started on March 7 last year. For the world’s oceans as a whole, it started on March 14.

“If you look at how the temperature is developing in… If you look at the oceans over the past 40 years, you can see that the current warming is really far beyond natural fluctuations.” says Anders Levermann of the German Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK).

El Niño and climate change

Mojib Latif of the Geomar Helmholtz Center for Ocean Research in Kiel, like Levermann, assumes that the climate phenomenon El Niño, which pumps heat from the ocean depths in the Pacific Ocean, increases warming – previously the opposite phenomenon La Niña had previously tempered the warming.

However, both also highlight the effect of human-induced climate change: ‘Oceans are a damn good indicator of global warming’ says Latif. The oceans absorb more than 90 percent of the heat left in the atmosphere due to the increase in greenhouse gases. “It is very clear that the oceans will warm as the Earth continues to warm.” Some researchers also see new emissions regulations in shipping as a factor.

Heavy rains could become more common

As the seas warm, the water in them expands. Together with the melting ice, this causes sea levels to rise faster and faster, says Levermann:

Climate researcher Latif points out that heavy rains may become more common because more water evaporates and warmer air can hold more water vapor, which will eventually come down as precipitation. (saw/sda/dpa)