Wednesday July 12, 2023
CBS News —
Temperatures are rising both on land and at sea, with climate experts ringing alarm bells about unprecedented sea surface temperatures in the North Atlantic.
With El Niño’s return, warmer than average temperatures are expected to persist, and could impact sea ice levels, fisheries and coral.
“We are in uncharted territory and we can expect more records to fall as El Niño develops further and these impacts will extend into 2024,” World Meteorological Organization director of climate services Christopher Hewitt said Monday. “This is worrying news for the planet.”
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in late June warned that half of the world’s oceans may experience marine heat wave conditions by September. Research scientist Dillon Amaya said that in the organization’s Physical Sciences Laboratory’s decades of measurement, such widespread high temperatures had never been seen.