A new academic study has shown that the world’s oceans were the “hottest ever recorded by humans” in 2021.
The study which was published in the journal— Advances in Atmospheric Science— stated human-emitted greenhouse gases were the direct cause of an increase in the annual temperature of the world’s oceans, which were measured by the ocean heat content index.
The warming which was caused by greenhouse gas emissions is yet another worrying sign of climate change.
Last year saw nine severe storms, four tropical cyclones and two flooding events that contributed to more than $100 billion in disaster recovery costs for the U.S, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Hurricane Ida alone, which hit Louisiana in August, accounted for $60 billion of that total, becoming the fifth most expensive storm to hit the U.S.
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The Environmental Protection Agency said “sea level has risen at a rate of roughly six-tenths of an inch per decade since 1880,” mostly along the Mid-Atlantic coast. This is even as Sea level rise has led to the loss of land in Florida and New York, a trend expected to continue along the East Coast.
Scientists who were involved in the study analyzed data from a buoy system in seven ocean basins that showed the top 2,000 meters of the oceans absorbed more than 227 excess zettajoules of energy compared to the average between 1981 and 2010.
The oceans’ warming has rapidly increased since the 1980s.
The authors of the study explained that the regional and global changes both reveal a robust and significant ocean warming since the late-1950s — the entirety of the reliable instrumental record.
The scientists warned that the warming of the oceans “supercharges” extreme weather events such as storms, hurricanes and rainfall.
“Warmer oceans supercharge the weather systems, creating more powerful storms and hurricanes, and increased precipitation,” they said. “Warmer oceans lead to a warmer and moister atmosphere that promotes more intense rainfall in all storms, especially hurricanes, thereby increasing the risk of flooding.”
