Two new studies have continued to show much Climate change is continue to accelerate.
Firstly the European Union Copernicus Climate Service revealed another year of climate extremes with many high temperature records and rising atmospheric gas concentations.
Europe saw its hottest summer ever recorded and several prolonged and intense heatwaves affected parts of western and northern Europe.
European temperatures have increased by more than twice the global average over the past 30 years and has the highest rate of increase of any continent in the world.
Secondly The Guardian reported that the worlds oceans were the hottest ever recorded in 2022, demonstrating the profound and pervasive changes that human-caused emissions have made to the planet’s climate.
Sea surface temperatures are a major influence on the world’s weather. Hotter oceans help supercharge extreme weather, leading to more intense hurricanes and typhoons and more moisture in the air, which brings more intense rains and flooding. Warmer water also expands, pushing up sea levels and endangering coastal cities.
Research released by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration show that oceans are now at their hottest for 1,000 years and heating faster than any time in the last 2,000 years.
Along with temperature salinity across the oceans reached a record high in 2022 making water more dense, impacting ocean circulation.
There is increasing stratification, where the layering of water by density becomes stronger. This restricts the mixing of deeper, cooler and more nutrient-rich waters with surface waters. Less mixing in the ocean means the surface layer absorbs less carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, increasing global warming.
