“The Earth climate system is out of energy balance, and heat has accumulated continuously over the past decades, warming the ocean, the land, the cryosphere, and the atmosphere. According to the Sixth Assessment Report by Working Group I of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, this planetary warming over multiple decades is human-driven and results in unprecedented and committed changes to the Earth system, with adverse impacts for ecosystems and human systems.”
Volume 15, issue 4, Earth Systems Science Data, 15, 1675–1709, April 17, 2023
We tend to deal with those aspects of climate change we can see, feel and experience. Hurricanes and tornados are exceptionally visible. Firestorms and flooding create astounding filmic footage. Coastal erosion, houses cascading into the ocean produce stunning visuals. Polar vortex chills and searing summers are powerful sensations. Soaring prices for commodities after crop failures and desertified once-productive farmlands are less perceived directly than felt in the wallet. Ah, but what happens in our oceans deep is difficult to see, feel or directly experience. Do we even link the rising numbers of great white sharks in California to climate change? We don’t see the reconfiguration of sea life reacting to climate change, deniers seizing on the cyclical patterns of El Niño and La Niña as complete alternate explanations for changing weather.
But make no mistake, if you think that what you are seeing above our oceans and seas is the only major impact of greenhouse gas emissions and their impact on earth, think again. Matt McGrath and Mark Poynting, writing for the April 25th BBC.com, take a deep dive (pun intended) into the undersea ravages we cannot see so easily, much of which is set forth in the above-cited study: “[In April], the global sea surface hit a new record high temperature. It has never warmed this much, this quickly… Scientists don't fully understand why this has happened.
“But they worry that, combined with other weather events, the world's temperature could reach a concerning new level by the end of next year… Experts believe that a strong El Niño weather event - a weather system that heats the ocean - will also set in over the next months… Warmer oceans can kill off marine life, lead to more extreme weather and raise sea levels. They are also less efficient at absorbing planet-warming greenhouse gases.” All that undersea plant life has played a pivotal role in pulling CO2 out of our ecosystem, even as land-based forests and jungles burn away or are remitted to agriculture and mining. So much of that undersea plant and animal life is disappearing. As the above chart prepared by the BBC suggests, rising ocean temperatures have a lot to do with that sad reality.
McGrath and Poynting continue: “Over the past 15 years, the Earth has accumulated almost as much heat as it did in the previous 45 years, with most of the extra energy going into the oceans… This is having real world consequences - not only did the overall temperature of the oceans hit a new record in April this year, in some regions the difference from the long term was enormous.
“In March, sea surface temperatures off the east coast of North America were as much as 13.8C higher than the 1981-2011 average… ‘It's not yet well established, why such a rapid change, and such a huge change is happening,’ said Karina Von Schuckmann, the lead author of the new study [cited above] and an oceanographer at the research group Mercator Ocean International… ‘We have doubled the heat in the climate system the last 15 years, I don't want to say this is climate change, or natural variability or a mixture of both, we don't know yet. But we do see this change.’
“One factor that could be influencing the level of heat going into the oceans is, interestingly, a reduction in pollution from shipping… In 2020, the International Maritime Organisation put in place a regulation to reduce the sulphur content of fuel burned by ships… This has had a rapid impact, reducing the amount of aerosol particles released into the atmosphere… But aerosols that dirty the air also help reflect heat back into space - removing them may have caused more heat to enter the waters…
“Even this seemingly small average increase has significant real-world consequences… Loss of species: more frequent and intense marine heatwaves lead to mass mortality of sea life. This is particularly damaging for coral reefs.
“More extreme weather: increased heat in the upper ocean surface means hurricanes and cyclones can pick up more energy. This means they become more intense and longer-lasting… Sea-level rise: warmer waters take up more space - known as thermal expansion - and can greatly accelerate the melting of glaciers from Greenland and Antarctica that flow into the oceans. This raises global sea levels, increasing risks of coastal flooding.
“Less ability to absorb CO2: the oceans currently take up about a quarter of greenhouse gas emissions. Warmer waters have less ability to absorb CO2. If the oceans take up less CO2 in future, more would accumulate in the atmosphere - further warming the air and oceans.” As hard as scientists try to find other explanations, which obviously do play a factor in these changes, bottom line, it all does come back to greenhouse gas emissions… and the resulting global warming.
“The average surface temperature of the world's seas has increased by around 0.9C [1.62 degrees Fahrenheit] compared to preindustrial levels, with 0.6C [1.1 Fahrenheit] coming in the last 40 years alone… This is less than increases in air temperatures over the land - which have risen by more than 1.5C [2.7 Fahrenheit] since preindustrial times. This is because much more energy is needed to heat water than land, and because oceans absorb heat far below their surface.” McGrath and Poynting.
Even as we set targets to contract greenhouse emissions, the world is hardly operating in lockstep, a necessary component to climate change containment. Businesses scream they cannot compete with too many restrictions. Poorer nations, believing that the issue was caused by nations that got rich from industrialization; they think the burden should be primarily against such wealthier countries. They continue to burn fossil fuels for everything from cooking and heating to forest and post-harvest clearance. While they are correct about placing blame, without their cooperation, we face a horrific near-term planetary environment.
I’m Peter Dekom, and exactly what is the accountability of politicians who continue to marginalize and refuse to correct the causes of climate change?
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