The world’s oceans have reached their warmest levels in modern history, outpacing climate forecasts and alarming scientists. Daily ocean temperatures have been trending warmer than normal every day for the past month and a half, approximately. Experts warn the pattern does not bode well for marine life and human well-being.
While the difference in temperature between this year and the same period in 2022 comes down to just a few tenths of a degree, looked at over the long term, the increase represents a significant jump. Average sea surface temperatures this spring are roughly 1.5 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than they were in 1986, one of the first years that real-time satellite ocean temperature data was available.
“The oceans are enormous, so they don’t warm very quickly ordinarily,” Robert Rohde, a physicist at the environmental data science nonprofit Berkeley Earth, told Grist. “This is an unusually abrupt rise to a level that’s a... Read more
