America can expect some massive hurricanes in the coming years because the water is warming which what drives the production of hurricanes.
he temperature of the oceans that cover roughly 70 per cent of the Earth are at their hottest recorded level for the fifth consecutive year, with one scientist likening the warming to more than four atomic bombs detonating every second since 1995.
The study, published in the journal Advances in Atmospheric Sciences, was conducted by a team of 14 scientists from 11 different research institutions around the globe.
Lead author of the study and associate professor at the International Centre for Climate and Environmental Sciences at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lijing Cheng, made the atomic bomb comparison to help provide a better understanding of the 228 sextillion joules of heat that have been absorbed by the world’s oceans.
“The Hiroshima atom bomb exploded with an energy of about 63 trillion joules. The amount of heat we have put in the world’s oceans in the past 25 years equals to 3.6 billion Hiroshima atom-bomb explosions,” Dr Cheng said.
That’s roughly equivalent to four-and-a-half Hiroshima bombs going off every
“This measured ocean warming is irrefutable and is further proof of global warming,” Dr Cheng said. “There are no reasonable alternatives aside from the human emissions of heat trapping gases to explain this heating.”
Not only is the ocean hotter, it’s heating at a faster rate than before.
Comparing data from 1987 to 2019 with data from 1955 to 1986 found an increase of roughly 450 per cent in the most recent recording period.
While some of this could be attributable to more accurate measurement techniques employed in recent years, the researchers said it also reflected an increase in the pace of warming.
Co-author and professor of mechanical engineering at the University of St. Thomas Minnesota, John Abraham, said increased ocean temperatures were the best indicator of how quickly the previously forecasted effects of climate change were now being felt in the real world.
“The key to answering this question is in the oceans – that’s where the vast majority of heat ends up. If you want to understand global warming, you have to measure ocean warming,” said Prof Abraham, who worked to improve the accuracy of ocean-temperature sensors used in the study.
He said the warming temperatures were just beginning.
“This is just the tip of the iceberg for what is to come,” Prof Abraham warned.
Similar to how the effects of climate change have exacerbated the length and severity of Australia’s bushfire season, warmer ocean temperatures and corresponding sea level rises increase the intensity of tropical storms and subsequent coastal flooding.
Prof Abraham previously studied the impacts of climate change on 2017’s Hurricane Harvey, a devastating tropical storm that impacted the Caribbean, Latin America and the USA.
“We quantified how much of that rain was from global warming. When those people hit by Harvey see the impact it has made on their daily lives, that can make an impact on their behaviour. The same is true with Superstorm Sandy, the fires we’re seeing in Australia and the crazy drought we saw a few years ago in California.
“Fortunately, we can do something about it: We can use energy more wisely, and we can diversify our energy sources. We have the power to reduce this problem.”
Prof Abraham also said he was optimistic about the rise of renewable energy as it became more economically viable.
“We’ve reached a point with renewable energy where they can compete with coal economically … people can no longer argue that it does not make economic sense,” he said.
