Tuesday October 1, 2024
VOA —
The pace at which oceans are warming has almost doubled since 2005 as global temperatures rise because of human-caused climate change, a report from the EU monitor Copernicus said Monday.
“Ocean warming can be seen as our sentinel for global warming. So it has increased continuously since the 60s and since about 2005, the rate of ocean warming has doubled,” oceanographer Karina von Schuckmann from Copernicus Marine Service told reporters.
Over the past two decades, the pace of ocean warming jumped from a long-term rate of 0.58 watts per m2 to 1.05 watts per m2, according to “The State of the Ocean Report” by Copernicus.
The oceans, which cover 70% of earth’s surface, are a major regulator of the climate and act as a carbon sink by drawing greenhouse gases from the atmosphere.