Climate Change Impact on the Ocean

The ocean is experiencing warming due to rising greenhouse gas concentrations, not just the air. Research indicates that approximately 90 percent of the excess heat from global warming is being absorbed by the ocean. Since measurements began in 1955, ocean heat has been steadily increasing and broke records in 2023. This increase in heat has led to more frequent and intense marine heat waves.

In August 2023, sea surface temperature anomalies were visualized in an image. Warmer colors such as red, orange, and yellow indicate areas where temperatures were warmer than normal, while cooler colors like blues show where temperatures were cooler than normal. The large red temperature swath in the Eastern Pacific can be attributed to an El Niño event. El Niño is a climate phenomenon in the tropical Pacific that leads to warmer than normal sea surface temperatures and has widespread impacts on global weather patterns. This information was credited to NASA.