The ocean has been breaking temperature records every day for over a year now, with 2024 continuing the trend of surpassing previous records by significant margins. This global warming trend has not only affected the oceans but the entire planet, as confirmed by various data sets.
Climatologist Gavin Schmidt, the director of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, emphasized the importance of understanding the specific physical processes driving these temperature records. By unraveling these mechanisms, scientists can enhance their climate models and make more accurate predictions for the future.
Recent data from the Copernicus Climate Change Service revealed that the average global sea surface temperature reached a new monthly high of 21.07 degrees Celsius in March 2024. Samantha Burgess, deputy director of Copernicus, highlighted the consecutive climate records being broken for both air and ocean surface temperatures.
The abnormally warm tropical Atlantic has set the stage for a potentially active hurricane season, fueled by higher ocean temperatures. The rise in global temperatures is primarily attributed to the burning of fossil fuels, which release greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. This has led to a global average temperature increase of about 1.2 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels.
However, the recent temperature records have surpassed expectations, even accounting for climate change. The influence of an El Niño event that began in July has further amplified these records. As El Niño weakens and dissipates, scientists are eager to see how global average temperatures will be affected.
In addition to climate change and El Niño, other factors such as reduced aerosol pollution from container ships and the eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Haʻapai volcano in 2022 may have contributed to the unprecedented warming. Scientists are working to unravel the complex interactions between these factors and their impact on global temperatures.
Despite the challenges in attributing the exact causes of the extreme temperature records, ongoing research and data analysis are expected to provide more insights in the coming months. The urgency to address climate change and its consequences is underscored by the continuous breaking of temperature records worldwide.
