Fighting ocean warming, an urgent need according to experts

The rapid increase in ocean temperatures has triggered the concern of experts, who are trying to keep up with their research on a freak that gives no respite and whose consequences go far beyond the sea.

“These changes occur so quickly that we are not being able to keep up with their impact and that generates a lot of uncertainty.“, he acknowledged Vidar Helgesenexecutive secretary of the Commission Intergovernmental Oceanographic of UNESCO, who considers that ““Addressing ocean warming is urgent.”

“This requires greater efforts to observe and research in real time and closer collaboration between science and policy-making.“, he explained to AFP during the conference of the Ocean Decade which ends this Friday in Barcelona, ​​after bringing together 1,500 international scientists, political representatives and organizations since Wednesday.

The temperature of the oceans, which cover 70% of the planet, set a new record in March, with an average of 21.07 °C on the surface, except for areas near the poles, according to the European observatory Copernicus.

Warmer oceans threaten marine life, expand the volume of water and put more humidity in the atmosphere, causing more extreme weather conditions, such as violent winds or torrential rains.

Beyond the Sea

The oceans, victims and shields of the climate crisis, have contributed to making the Earth’s surface habitable, absorbing 90% of the excess heat caused by pollution from carbon emissions, the result of human activity, since the industrial era. ; and part of the CO2. In addition, they generate about half of the oxygen we breathe.

“The ocean has much more heat capacity than the atmosphere, it absorbs much more heat, but it cannot absorb infinity either.“, warned Cristina González Haro, a researcher at the Barcelona Institute of Marine Sciences, who recognizes that scientists are still not clear about all the causes of this increase, which could also be influenced by phenomena such as El Niño, and which shows no signs of stop.

One of the great objectives of the Ocean Decade (2021-2030) is precisely to try to expand knowledge about warming and decipher its multiple implications to limit it.

“There is still a lot we don’t know about the oceans. We have only mapped about 25% of the world’s ocean floor and, at the same time, we have to map and monitor live the changes that are occurring due to climate change”Helgesen remarked.

According to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), a UN agency, more than 90% of the planet’s oceans experienced heat waves at some point last year, while surface water temperatures continue to rise.

“We are on a trajectory that leads us to ask scientists if we have not underestimated the climate change that will come”said Jean-Pierre Gattuso, specialist at the National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) of France.

With a direct impact on the climate and ecosystems, the effects of this phenomenon are felt throughout the planet, no matter how far one lives from the sea.

“What happens in the ocean does not stay in the ocean, and we must begin to try to increase awareness of its role in our lives”González Haro highlighted.

Everything counts

But the difficulties in implementing international decisions, such as the Paris Agreement reached in 2015 to try to limit global warming, do not invite optimism for everyone.

“Many researchers feel a little frustrated to see that, despite these scientific demonstrations of climate change and its consequences at multiple levels, the implementation of the Paris Agreement is so slow”Gattuso lamented. “It doesn’t bode well if this continues like this in the future.“, he claimed.

There are, however, hopeful signs, such as the approval in 2023, after fifteen years of talks, of a historic treaty by UN Member States to protect the high seas, or the ongoing negotiations to reach an international consensus on the plastic pollution.

“Every tenth of a degree counts, just as every year gained counts. It is never too late”Gattuso recalled.

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