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The analysis, released Thursday, Jan. 10 in the journal Science, revealed that the Earth’s oceans are heating up an average of 40 percent faster than a United Nations panel estimated just five years ago. Researchers also found that ocean temperatures have broken records for several consecutive years.
“2018 is going to be the warmest year on record for the Earth’s oceans. As 2017 was the warmest year, and 2016 was the warmest year,” Zeke Hausfather, an author of the study and energy systems analyst at the independent climate research group Berkeley Earth, told The New York Times.
These rising water temperatures are continuing to wreak havoc on marine ecosystems and make hurricanes more destructive through rising sea levels. These new finding could make these conditions even more dangerous.
The rising sea levels result from the raised temperatures, as warm water takes up more space than cold water. Contrary to popular belief, the majority of rising sea levels have been attributed to this cause — not the melting of ice caps.
Click here to read the entire report in the journal Science.
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