5 Things You Should Know About the Earth’s Warming Ocean

Besides drastically cutting our emissions NOW, there is also the imperative that we cut our ignorance about our warming planet by 100%. And we need to do this as though our lives depend upon it —because they do! Anyone who in any way dismisses or minimizes the climate emergency and the vital need to implement the Green New Deal NOW must be stopped from holding any position of power because they are aligned with the Merchants of Ignorance, Greed, and Death who are ushering in our extinction. They must be stopped! And we must inform ourselves and unite in the radical transformation of ourselves, our nation, and the planet — taking responsibility for holding all life with reverence and protection rather than being actively or passively involved in its destruction. Please, vote for Bernie Sanders and all who are 100% in support of the vital actions that we need to do as quickly as humanly possible to have any chance of saving ourselves. The time to mobilize behind our human evolution in this spiritual-political revolution is NOW! — Molly

Climate change has caused record-breaking ocean temperatures, and that means more dangerous storms, trouble for coral reefs and big changes for our marine ecosystems.

By

Tara Lohan

Part of Joellen Russell’s job is to help illuminate the deep darkness — to shine a light on what’s happening beneath the surface of the ocean. And it’s one of the most important jobs in the world right now.

Russell is a professor of biogeochemical dynamics at the University of Arizona. From that dry, landlocked state, she’s become a leading expert on how the climate is changing in the Southern Ocean — those vast, dark waters swirling around Antarctica.

“This is an age of scientific discovery,” she says. But also, “it’s very scary what we’re finding out.”

Researchers like Russell have been ringing alarm bells in report after report warning that the world’s ocean waters are dangerously warming. Most of the heat trapped by the greenhouse gas emissions we’ve spewed into the air for decades has actually been absorbed by the ocean. Over the past 25 years, that heat amounts to the equivalent of exploding 3.6 billion Hiroshima-sized atom bombs, according to Lijing Cheng of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and lead author of a new study on ocean warming.

Now we’re beginning to witness the cascading repercussions of that oceanic warming — from supercharged storms to dying coral reefs to crashing fisheries.

There’s still a lot left to learn about these problems, but here’s a look at some of the top findings from researchers, along with what they hope to uncover next.

1. Yes, It’s Definitely Getting Warmer

There’s no doubt among scientists that the ocean is heating and we’re driving it.

The latest confirmation is the study by Cheng and colleagues, published this month in Advances in Atmospheric Sciences, which bluntly stated, “Ocean heating is irrefutable and a key measure of the Earth’s energy imbalance.”

The study found ocean waters in 2019 were the warmest in recorded history. And that follows a pattern: The past decade has also seen the warmest 10 years of ocean temperatures, and the last five years have been the five warmest on record.

“Every year the ocean waters get warmer, and the reason is because of the heat-trapping gases that humans have emitted into the atmosphere,” says John Abraham, one of the study’s coauthors and a professor in mechanical engineering at the University of St. Thomas. “It’s concerning for sure.”

2. The Southern Ocean Has Been Hit Worst

Much of this warming occurs between the surface and a depth of 6,500 feet. It’s happening pretty consistently across the globe, but some areas have experienced higher rates of warming. One of those is the Southern Ocean, which has acted as a giant sink, absorbing 43% of our oceanic CO₂ emissions and 75% of the heat, scientists have concluded.

That’s because the ocean basin functions like an air conditioner for the planet, says Russell. Strong winds pull up cold water from deep below, and then the cold surface water takes up some heat from the air. When the winds slow, the water sinks, more cold water rises, and the process repeats.

“The sinking water isn’t warm, per se, just a bit warmer than it was when the wind pulled it up,” she says. “In this way the Southern Ocean can sequester a lot of heat well below the surface.”

For that reason what happens in the Southern Ocean is globally important. And it makes new findings all the more concerning.

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