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Latest Status on Our Oceans... And it is in Hot, Hot Water. |
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by Rosa Domingos | 26-01-2019 18:33
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The Earth’s surface is 70% water, but even that underestimates how vital ocean health is to our planet’s ability to maintain life. Recent results from scientists around the world only further confirm that our water world is in imminent danger. A few weeks ago, a riveting study confirmed that the oceans are warming 40% faster than what was previously estimated by a number of scientists. The finding partially resolved a long-running debate between climate modelers and oceanographers. By measuring the oceans more directly, scientists again came to a now-familiar conclusion: Yes, things really are as bad as we feared. The ocean stores more than 90% of all excess heat energy due to the buildup of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. From the standpoint of heat, global warming is almost entirely a story of how rapidly the oceans are changing. Warming oceans work to melt polar ice, of course, thereby raising sea levels. But warmer oceans change how the atmosphere works, as well. More heat energy in the oceans means more heat energy is available for extreme weather: Downpours of rainfall are happening more often, hurricanes are shifting in frequency and growing in intensity, freak ocean heat waves are spilling over into temperature records on land. Melting Arctic and Antarctic sea ice is also increasing wave height, which is accelerating coastal erosion — worsening the effects of sea-level rise. The now-inevitable loss of nearly all coral reefs — home to a quarter of the ocean’s biodiversity — is the most charismatic of the impacts. The changes to the world’s oceans are shifting marine ecosystems on a grand scale, all the way down to phytoplankton, the base of the planet’s food web. Last month, a study found that the “Great Dying,” the worst mass extinction in Earth history, was triggered by a period of global warming comparable to what’s predicted for us under business-as-usual conditions. Moreover, the study asked: Could we be on a similar path as 252 million years ago, when most marine life was snuffed out after the warming seas lost most of their oxygen? The answer, almost entirely, will down to what we collectively decide to do in the next decade or so. CO2 sticks around in the atmosphere for about 100 years. The lag time of ocean heating — the amount of time it takes for the energy of a particularly warm day at the sea’s surface to reach all the way to its deepest depths — is about 2,000 years. Oceans act as a massive storage system to retain that heat over very long timescales. It is why, if we’re going to limit warming to less than 1.5 degrees C, the IPCC says that not only do we need to cut emissions immediately — with a 50% reduction globally by 2030 — but we also need to work to draw down the greenhouse gases that are already in the atmosphere, through massive reforestation and other alternate means. We simply don’t have time to wait for them to dwindle on their own(Holthaus, 2019). By changing the atmosphere to capture more of the sun’s energy, we’re adding the equivalent of four Hiroshima bombs of heat energy every second to the oceans. In 2018, the oceans gained about 9 zettajoules of heat energy. (For reference, annual energy use for all of human civilization is about 0.5 zettajoules.) There’s just no way to remove that heat once it’s there. It will inevitably end up leaking into the atmosphere, intensifying our experience of a warming planet even further. Even if a future human civilization decided to embark on a geoengineering project to offset the atmospheric effects of climate change, there is no practical physical mechanism to cool down the 1,355 × 109 cubic kilometres of ocean water on the planet(Holthaus, 2019). Combined with other stressors like overfishing, acidification, plastic pollution, and nutrient runoff, the oceans are already experiencing geological-scale changes. This is, I believe, the grandest of possible wake-up calls: We are in the emergency phase of climate change. In order for things to get back on track and avoid further radical changes to our planetary life-support system, we have to make radical changes to our culture and society(Holthaus, 2019). Source/author: Eric Holthaus. https://grist.org/article/the-debate-is-over-the-oceans-are-in-hot-hot-water/. Jan 17, 2019.
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15 Comments
Greetings Rosa
I hope you are doing well
Thank you so much for this report
Keep writing
Green cheers
Regards
Sus
Posted 15-03-2020 16:46
Hi Mentor Joon!
Yes, since the Beast Plastic Pollution initiative, I have fallen particularly interested in marine diversity and its health status.
This is what bothers me, we an humanity don't know much about the marine environment yet we choose to destroy it. This is I am fond of the issue. Major factors are at play here, the ocean is warming up and the first species that will feel this are the marine species, if nothing is done now than the environment as a whole will be in imminent danger.
Thank you for supporting!
Posted 02-02-2019 14:31
Hi Mentor Gyeongrin!
The numbers are truely alarming and shows you how far we need to go to atleast start to reverse the effects of our deeds. Our efforts into reducing the effects will take time but we need to act now if we want to see change in the long run.
Thank you so much for reading and for your support!
Posted 02-02-2019 14:23
Hello Rosa, it seems like you are interested in recent environmental problems concerning marine area and ocean.
I saw a couple of news and article warning about what's beneath sea water and how it is going but unfortunately it is not visible for us to see and acknowledge such problems directly and right away. Like Gyeongrin mentor said, carbon emission itself is truly a pivotal element causing such problems but other reports also do cover up and urge other factors too as warning sequence.
Thanks for your report, and I did learn quite a lot from this too!
Posted 30-01-2019 23:59
Hello Rosa
The report gives us quite specific numbers that alarm us that the rate at which the ocean is getting hot is far faster than what we actually do expect. As reading the report, it made it clear that pollution is done in an eye blink but to undo what has been done needs dramatic changes through enormous effort.
Carbon emission has been a critical cause for these results, but as the report points out, we surely have to notice other involving factors too to make it sure that we could bring balance back to this world.
Thanks for the report :)
Posted 30-01-2019 16:39
Hi Deepak!
Truely we should take drastic action, one that evokes global citizen participation.
Thank you for reading!
Posted 29-01-2019 14:29
Hi Asmita!
I trust you are well! Thank you for your kind words! Yes, you're right. We need to act in a swift manner before it comes to a point where we cannot resolve the mistakes we've made.
Thank you for your support!
Rosa
Posted 29-01-2019 14:27
Hello Rosa sis
Your report always put me into great thought. It??s such a beautiful report.
The problems need to be set on soon before catastrophe engulf the nature and mankind.
Posted 28-01-2019 19:51
Hello Rosa
Greeting
Our ocean is certainly changing
Algae are decreasing, plastic are increasing,
Climate change, Global warming etc ruining sea and ocean
We must take action otherwise it will be very late and we can't do anything
Posted 28-01-2019 19:07
Hey there Sachin!
Thank you so much for your support! You are right, this is a challenge. One that can bring detrimental effects if now resolved soon.
Posted 27-01-2019 22:48
Hey Dibya!
Thank you so much for your support! I'll do so.
Posted 27-01-2019 22:45
It is a new challenge the globe will be facing, heating up of these ocean water will definitely affect these aquatic lifeforms.
Loved the article.
Hello form Nepal
Posted 27-01-2019 20:53
Hello Rosa!
Hope you are doing well! :)
Keep writing great reports as I always look forward to read your reports.
Green cheers!
Posted 27-01-2019 13:42
Hey Partner!
Tha k you for your kind words. When I was compiling this report, it had dawned on me that the Earth is really absorbing in an inexplicable amount of heat and what is more frightening is that there is now scientific or natural way of releasing this heat back into outer space.
What concerns me the most is that only a small portion of citizens know about this and are actually doing something to this regard. I concur that this is a global issues and the manners in which we should atleast try to minimise our carbon footprint is suggested perfectly in your comment.
I dread to see the day where our natural disasters become horrific. And I hope out future generation done not see that day either.
Thank you so much for your support! Stay tuned, I'll surely released another one tomorrow.
Thank you for reading Partner!
Stay blessed
Rosa
Posted 27-01-2019 02:21
Thank you partner for such a beautiful report. I really love reading your report.
Indeed our oceans are warming at really alarming rate and serious actions must be taken. Although, we do not have any sea or ocean in our country Nepal but I do really care about this burning issue as this is a global problem.As reports suggested by IPCC we must reduce the production of gases and maintain more greenery to maintain the warming temperature.
With the increase in green house gases and warming of earth, we are prone to more disasters. We must Act Now against such global problems.
Keep writing great reports as I always look forward to read your reports.
I am already eager to read your next reports.
With lots of love from your partner from Nepal.
Green Cheers Partner) :)
Yours
Kushal Naharki
Posted 26-01-2019 22:37