Rate of Ocean Warming Nearly Doubled Since 2005: EU Monitor

AFP/APP

Brest, France: The rate at which oceans are warming has almost doubled since 2005 due to global temperature increases driven by human-caused climate change, according to a report released Monday by the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service.

“Ocean warming can be seen as our sentinel for global warming. It has been rising steadily since the 1960s, and since around 2005, the rate of ocean warming has doubled,” oceanographer Karina von Schuckmann from Copernicus Marine Service told reporters.

Over the past two decades, the pace of ocean warming has accelerated, increasing from a long-term rate of 0.58 watts per square meter to 1.05 watts per square meter, according to The State of the Ocean Report by Copernicus.

Oceans, which cover 70 percent of the Earth’s surface, play a crucial role in regulating the climate and act as a carbon sink by absorbing greenhouse gases from the atmosphere.

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), oceans have absorbed approximately 90 percent of the excess heat caused by planet-warming emissions since 1970.

The Copernicus report highlights “record-breaking ocean temperatures, marine heatwaves extending into the deep ocean, unprecedented sea ice loss, and increasing levels of heat stored in the ocean.”

In 2023, over 20 percent of the global ocean surface experienced at least one severe to extreme marine heatwave. These heatwaves degrade ecosystems, disrupt the delicate nutrient balance in the ocean, and contribute to more intense hurricanes, storms, and other extreme weather events.