Record temperatures negatively affect oceans ecosystems

The temperature of the water surface of the World Ocean in 2023 on average increased by 0.25 degrees Celsius compared to 2022. To understand the scale: previously the same increase took about two decades.

This was announced by an employee of the National Oceanological Center of Great Britain (Noaa), Professor Gregory Johnson.

According to him, an increase in water temperature caused the migration of some types of marine inhabitants to poles.

According to the Climate Reanalyzer website, the University of Meng in the USA and NOAA data, on Wednesday, March 13, the average daily surface temperature broke the record, was 21.2 degrees.

The previous highest temperature was recorded in August last year and was 21.1 degrees.

According to the Copernicus report, the European Union for Monitoring Climate Changes, February became the warmest second month of winter in the history of observations, and this affected the temperature of the sea surface.

The global temperature of the sea surface on average in February was 21.06 degrees, and at the end of the month the temperature of the sea surface in the daytime reached 21.09 degrees.

The highest water temperatures were recorded in the Atlantic Ocean and the central part of the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, in the Mediterranean and Black Seas basin, the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf.

Professor Johnson informed the Anadola agency that the ocean water is on average 1 degree Celsius, which was warmer than the industrial revolution, and climate change is a key factor that causes extreme temperatures.

According to him, the growth in the temperature of the surface water of the oceans became a record in 2023.

“I believe that the temperature of the surface water of the sea increased by about 0.25 degrees in 2023 compared to 2022. To understand the scale: earlier the same increase took about two decades. Although there were changes from year to year due to weather El-Nigno and La-Nenya’s phenomena, it was still one of the largest jumps in history. On the other hand, it was always so early, ”the professor said.

Among the factors contributing to the growth of surface water temperature of the oceans, Johnson listed the use of diesel fuel in marine shipping and natural phenomena as the eruption of the volcano, for example, the eruption of the Hung-tung-Haapai volcano on the same island in January 2022.

“This eruption threw a lot of water steam into the atmosphere. Of course, this is a small factor, but it can still have a potential effect,” he said.

The inability of water on the ocean surface is mixed with the depth as a result of the weakening of winds blowing in the oceans can also be a factor in increasing temperature of surface water, the agency’s interlocutor emphasized.