A new analysis finds extreme warming events in the ocean have increased relative to the very far past, with nearly 60% of the ocean experiencing extreme heat in 2019.
Extreme marine temperatures that were once considered rare have officially become the norm for the majority of the world’s ocean. According to a new study, more than half the marine surface is now regularly subjected to extreme heat. These abnormally high temperatures can have far-reaching negative effects on marine animals as well as the local economies that depend on them.
“We need to realize that climate change is happening as we speak.…It has also been happening for quite some time,” said study coauthor Kisei Tanaka, a marine ecologist at NOAA.
Prior to his position at NOAA, Tanaka was a research data scientist at the Monterey Bay Aquarium in California. While he was there, he and Kyle Van Houtan, chief scientist at the aquarium at the time, noticed some unusual changes happening in the bay. Kelp forests were disappearing, and marine species whose normal habitat was the warmer waters of Southern California were starting to appear farther north.
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