What was the global ocean temperature record in 2022?
The global ocean reached its warmest recorded temperature in human history during 2022. This milestone followed a steady rise in heat content that exceeded the previous maximum set in 2021.
The global ocean reached its warmest recorded temperature in human history during 2022. This milestone followed a steady rise in heat content that exceeded the previous maximum set in 2021.
The ocean absorbs about 92% of excess heat generated by climate change and acts as a massive thermal buffer for the planet. Between pre-industrial times and the decade spanning 2011 to 2020, the ocean surface heated between 0.68 and 1.01 degrees Celsius.
Coastal flooding threatens hundreds of millions of people by 2050 especially across Southeast Asia. Rising sea levels result from two main physical mechanisms: thermal expansion as water warms and melting land ice sheets.
Acidification of the deep ocean will continue for millennia regardless of future emission cuts because the ocean absorbs about 25% of all human-caused carbon dioxide emissions. Since the beginning of the industrial revolution mean seawater pH has declined measurably leading to reduced ability for calcifying organisms to build shells and skeletons.
Warm water corals have lost 50% of their population over the last thirty to fifty years due to multiple threats including pollution and fishing damage. The IPCC Sixth Assessment Report found that since the early 1980s mass coral bleaching events have increased sharply worldwide.