Credit: sciencedaily.com
One hundredth of one degree in seven years, all due to supposedly naughty humans? Hilarious. An ex-boss of mine used to call such tiny variations ‘spurious accuracy’. What’s the margin of error?
– – –
The world’s oceans set a new temperature record this week, raising concerns about knock-on effects on the planet’s climate, marine life and coastal communities, says AFP (via Euractiv).
The temperature of the oceans’ surface rose to 20.96 degrees Celsius on 30 July, according to European Union climate observatory data.
The previous record was 20.95C in March 2016, a spokeswoman for the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service told AFP on Friday.
The samples tested excluded polar regions.
The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which uses a different database, has also recorded a similar trend in recent months.
It said the average sea surface temperature record was reached on April 4 this year at 21.06C, overtaking the previous high of 21.01C in March 2016. On 1 August, average temperatures were at 21.03C, it said.
Oceans have absorbed 90% of the excess heat produced by human activity since the dawn of the industrial age, according to scientists.
This excess heat continues to accumulate as greenhouse gases — mainly from burning oil, gas and coal — build up in the Earth’s atmosphere.
Globally, the average ocean temperature has been topping seasonal heat records on a regular basis since April.
‘Immediate threat’
“The ocean heatwave is an immediate threat to some marine life,” said Piers Forster of the International Centre for Climate at Britain’s University of Leeds.
“We are already seeing coral bleaching in Florida as a direct result and I expect more impacts will surface.”
The overheating of the oceans is predicted to have other effects on marine plant and animal life too, including on the migration of certain species and the spread of invasive species.
This could threaten fish stocks and thus undermine food security in certain parts of the globe.
Warmer oceans are also less capable of absorbing carbon dioxide (CO2), reinforcing the vicious cycle of global warming. [Talkshop comment – vicious…tremble now!]
And higher temperatures are likely to come, since the El Nino phenomenon, which tends to warm waters up, has only just begun.
Scientists expect the worst effects of the current El Nino to be felt at the end of 2023 and continue into subsequent years.
Full article here.
– – –
Vicious circle: noun Logic ‘A fallacy in reasoning in which the premise is used to prove the conclusion, and the conclusion used to prove the premise.’ – Wordnik.
(It does offer two other definitions but that’s the ‘logic’ one).
via Tallbloke’s Talkshop
August 16, 2023 at 10:09AM
Iowa Climate Science Education 