Climate change, as we all know, is currently one of the biggest issues faced by the mankind. The rapid industrialization as well as urbanization might have raised our standard of living, but it has been severely impacting the environment. The constant disruptions in the environment we are witnessing in the past few years are the testament to the effects of climate change.
Increasing ocean temperature is one such issue that has been constantly soaring in the past few years. In 2020, we saw hottest ocean temperatures in the history being recorded, and according to a new research, this record has been broken in 2021. More surprisingly, this record has been continuously broken for the last six years.
Information Reference: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/jan/11/oceans-hottest-temperatures-research-climate-crisis
So, what is the reason behind the soaring ocean temperatures?
The increase in ocean temperature is prominently driven by the effects of climate change. Kevin Trenbarth, a climate scientist agrees this by quoting, “The ocean heat content is relentlessly increasing, globally, and this is a primary indicator of human-induced climate change.”
Oceans generally absorb a large quantity of heat due to increased concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere—which is mainly emitted from fossil fuel consumption. According to a report, ocean heat had absorbed more than 93% of excess heat from greenhouse gas emissions since the 1970s.
Another Record-breaking Year?
As we move forward into the New Year 2022, climate change, accompanied by global warming and several other environmental issues continues to threaten us. As more villages are transforming to towns and towns are transforming to large cities, the pollution levels are increasing and so are the toxic gas emissions in the environment.
Ultimately, this might affect the ocean temperatures severely. Michael Mann, Climate Sentence at Penn University supports this argument by saying, “Until we reach net zero emissions, that heating will continue, and we’ll continue to break ocean heat content records, as we did this year. Better awareness and understanding of the oceans are a basis for the actions to combat the effects of climate change.”
Also Read: Climate Change: Industries Role In Preserving The Environment
