Warmer days

With the bushfires in Australia bringing the issue of global warming and the urgency to act against it back into focus, an untold story has been playing out in the world’s oceans. The world’s water reservoirs that have hit the hottest levels in recorded history. While the visible effects of climate change are seen in the changing – and more severe – weather patterns witnessed above ground, few are aware that most of the heat produced by greenhouse gas emissions is absorbed in the oceans. Over 90 percent of excess heat is absorbed in the world’s water. Scientists have continued to monitor how much heat has been absorbed in water as a way to get an accurate reading of the rate of global warming. The measurements have been taken to a depth of 2,000 metres over several decades.

Ocean warming has already caused countless damage to marine life with coral reefs, known for rich marine life, taking much of the toll. But the effects of warming oceans are not limited underwater. Hotter oceans mean that the weather on the ground continues to get more extreme. Immediately, much of the damage will be felt by those who live closest to seas and oceans, but this is not all. Oceans are responsible for regulating much of the world’s climate. Rising sea levels will directly threaten coastal habitation, while the overall climatic change will threaten the rest. The latest scientific measurements confirm that the last five years have been the hottest on record. According to one of the lead scientists, the heat we have put into the oceans in the last 25 years is equal to 3.6 billion explosions of the Hiroshima atomic bombs.

There is a clear link between the current climate-related disasters and the warming of oceans. If anything, the numbers from the oceans are telling us that the future is not rosy. The world will need to act in a much more serious way – and much of the responsibility lies in the hands of the countries that produce the most emissions. The Paris accord sets strong objectives, but follow-up has been slow, if at all. If anything, there has been a growing set of world leaders that deny climate change, with no relationship to the actual evidence which tells us the opposite. Oceans absorb heat slowly, so the effects of emissions in the industrial age will continue to be borne by the oceans for the coming centuries. The oceans are telling a tale that those on the ground need to hear and act upon.