![]() Mark Maslin, professor of Earth system science at University College London, said the climate crisis was taking hold before our eyes. ![]() With the strong potential for an El Niño event in the mix we can expect sea-surface temperatures to temporarily rise further, with a consequent knock-on effect for global temperature as a whole.” Simon Good, an expert on ocean observation at the UK’s Met Office, said: “For the last three years the tropical Pacific has been in the opposing phase with a La Niña bringing cooler conditions. “This is heading in an unprecedented direction, and could be taking us into uncharted territory.” “What we are seeing is very unusual,” he said. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. ![]() For more information see our Privacy Policy. Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For temperatures to continue so far above the average for such a long period at this time of year was “an anomaly”, said Ben Webber, lecturer in climate science at the University of East Anglia. Since then, temperatures have varied slightly from day to day but have shown little sign of abating. “The current trajectory looks like it’s headed off the charts, smashing previous records,” Prof Matthew England, a climate scientist at the University of New South Wales, said at that time. Climate scientists warned the Guardian early this month that preliminary data from NOAA showed the average temperature at the ocean’s surface had been at 21.1C since the start of April – beating the previous high of 21C set in 2016. The alarm was first raised several weeks ago. But we don’t know yet if that is going to happen.” “The cause for concern is that if it carries on, this will be well ahead of the climate curve for the ocean. “The rate is stronger than climate models would predict,” he said. Meredith said it was still too soon to tell. Some scientists fear we could be reaching the limit of the oceans’ capacity to absorb these excesses. The oceans have acted as a kind of global buffer to the climate crisis over recent decades, both by absorbing vast amounts of the carbon dioxide that we have poured into the atmosphere, and by storing about 90% of the excess energy and heat this has created, dampening some of the impacts of global heating on land. Some scientists fear that the rapid warming could be a sign of the climate crisis progressing at a faster rate than predicted. Corals in particular can suffer devastating bleaching. Hotter temperatures can also be dire for marine ecosystems, as it can be difficult or impossible for species to adapt. Seawater takes up more space at higher temperatures, accelerating sea level rise, and warmer water at the poles accelerates the melting of the ice caps. Warming oceans are a concern for many reasons. It could be a short-lived extreme high, or it could be the start of something much more serious.” The fact that it is warming as much as it has been is a real surprise, and very concerning. Prof Mike Meredith of the British Antarctic Survey said: “This has got scientists scratching their heads. Ocean surface temperatures are at record highs
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