Global Courant
Scientists have gathered further evidence that ocean waters continue to warm along with the rest of the planet.
Ocean temperatures hit record highs for the month of May, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced during its monthly climate call on Thursday.
Ice chunks float in the Gulf of Bothnia near the coast at the beginning of spring, May 3, 2023.
Olivier Morin/AFP via Getty Images
Four major factors contribute to such historic warming of global sea surface temperatures: human-induced climate change, an evolving El Nino event, effects of the 2022 Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano eruption, and a new shipping emissions policy aimed at reducing air pollution. pollution, said Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Some regions experience temperatures up to 7 degrees higher than average for this time of year. On Cabo Verde Island, where hurricanes usually form, the water is usually 25 degrees Fahrenheit, but currently measures 82.4 degrees.
Combined, land and ocean temperatures in May were the third warmest on record, with surface temperatures rising about 0.97 degrees Celsius, or 1.75 degrees Fahrenheit, above the 20th-century average, Rocky Bilotta, a climatologist for the NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, to Reporters.
Temperatures were above average in most of North America, South America and Africa. Parts of Western Europe, northwest Russia, Southeast Asia and the Arctic also experienced warmer-than-average temperatures this month, Bilotta said.
In the contiguous United States, temperatures in May averaged 62.4 degrees Fahrenheit, 2.2 degrees above the average for that time of year, Bilotta said.
The warmest world record for the period between March and May was also reached, according to NOAA.
Cleared lots are all that remains of some of the homes and businesses destroyed by Hurricane Ian in Fort Myers Beach, Florida on January 25, 2023.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
According to the National Centers for Environmental Information, 2023 is very likely to be among the 10 warmest years on record static analysis which was released in April. If warmer ocean and air surface temperatures continue, 2023 could be the hottest year on record.
Scientists expect that the current high temperatures could rise in the coming weeks and bring record-breaking numbers, which could spell disaster for coastal communities around the world.
Warmer ocean waters can contribute to more powerful tropical storms and affect marine life. In addition, a warmer atmosphere retains more moisture and can increase the risk of flooding. Melting sea ice in the Arctic is also causing sea levels to rise, eroding coastlines.
Beachgoers walk along the shoreline in Brigantine NJ on June 28, 2022.
Wayne Parry/AP
Earlier this week, thousands of fish Washed up in Quintana Beach County Park on Texas’ Gulf Coast, likely due to warming waters, according to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Kills and Spills team.
“This type of fish kill is common in the summer when temperatures rise,” the department said in a statement. “If there isn’t enough oxygen in the water, fish can’t ‘breathe.’ Low dissolved oxygen is a natural phenomenon in many cases.”
