Another worrying study of the consequences of climate change sees the light of publicity. The rate of overheating of the oceans has been overwhelmed over the last four decades, according to a study published in the magazine “Environmental Research Letters”.

It is found that ocean temperatures rose to approximately 0.06 degrees Celsius per decade in the late 1980s, and are now increasing to 0.27 degrees Celsius per decade.

Ocean temperatures worldwide set record for 450 consecutive days in 2023 and early 2024.

Cause the “energy imbalance” of land

Researchers note that this accelerated increase in ocean temperature is due to the growing energy imbalance of the Earth, according to which more energy than the sun is absorbed into the Earth’s system than it escapes back into space.

This imbalance has almost doubled since 2010, partly due to the increase in greenhouse gas concentrations and because the Earth reflects less sunlight in space than before.

Part of this heat came from El Niini, a natural phenomenon of heating in the Pacific. When scientists compared it to a similar El Nienium in 2015-2016, they found that the rest of the record is explained by the increase in sea surface temperature faster in the last ten years than in previous decades.

This accelerated increase in temperature, the researchers note, stresses the urgency of the reduction of fossil fuel combustion to avoid even more rapid increases in the future and to begin stabilizing the climate.