US EditionOceans Feel the Heat From Human Climate Pollution
- The world’s oceans have taken in most of the heat generated by fossil fuel emissions, leading to unprecedented surface temperature highs in 2023 and widespread signs of ecological distress.
- This stress stems from increased greenhouse gas emissions that cause ocean warming, acidification, oxygen loss, and polar amplification, which accelerates warming at the poles.
- The occurrence of marine heatwaves has increased twofold, extending over larger regions and posing serious risks to coral reefs and seagrass ecosystems, while also contributing to more intense storms fueled by warmer ocean waters.
- Between 70 and 90 percent of corals could be lost this century if warming surpasses the Paris Agreement goal of 1.5 degrees Celsius, a threshold expected by the early 2030s.
- Rising seas have doubled their pace in three decades, threatening 230 million people near coastlines, with projections of one-centimeter per year rise by 2100 if trends persist.
45 Articles
45 Articles
Oceans now feeling the heat from human climate pollution
PARIS — Oceans have absorbed the vast majority of the warming caused by burning fossil fuels and shielded societies from the full impact of greenhouse gas emissions. But this crucial ally has developed alarming symptoms of stress — heat waves, loss of marine life, rising sea levels, falling oxygen levels and acidification caused by the uptake of excess carbon dioxide. These effects risk not just the health of the ocean but the entire planet. By …
A study published in the journal Global Change Biology reveals that approximately one-fifth of the world's oceans have been darkening over the past 20 years – an area of about 75 million square kilometers. The researchers assessed changes in photic zones, areas where ecological interactions depend on sunlight and moonlight. And it is precisely in these zones that the waters have been getting darker and the depth reached by light has been decreas…
The oceans have absorbed the vast majority of the warming caused by fossil fuels and armoured societies of the entire impact of greenhouse gas emissions. But this crucial ally has developed alarming symptoms of stress – heat waves, loss of marine life, increased levels of stress, and increased [...]
The health of the sea is a good thermometer of the challenges of the climate transition: species preservation, consumption patterns, balance of local economies. On the eve of the Third United Nations Conference on the Ocean, it is urgent to act.
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