Ocean Temperatures Have Reached a Record-Breaking High

Ocean waters.
(Image credit: Shutterstock)

Our planet's oceans are warmer than they've ever been in recorded human history. And ocean temperatures are not only increasing, they are heating up at an accelerating rate, according to a new analysis. 

In 2019, the ocean temperature was about 0.135 degrees Fahrenheit (0.075 degrees Celsius) higher than the average between 1981 and 2010, an international group of researchers reported on Jan. 13 in the journal Advances in Atmospheric Sciences

That means that the ocean — which absorbs almost all of the greenhouse gases humans spew into the atmosphere — has taken in 228 sextillian (228,000,000,000,000,000,000,000) joules of heat above its average, according to a statement. By comparison, the energy released by the Hiroshima atom-bomb explosion was about 63,000,000,000,000 Joules.

Related: 5 Places Already Feeling the Effects of Climate Change

"The amount of heat we have put in the world's oceans in the past 25 years equals to 3.6 billion Hiroshima atom-bomb explosions," lead author Lijing Cheng, associate professor with the International Center for Climate and Environmental Sciences at the Institute of Atmospheric Physics (IAP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), said in the statement. "There are no reasonable alternatives aside from the human emissions of heat-trapping gases to explain this heating."

To analyze temperature changes in the oceans, Cheng and the team used all of the available data — measured from a number of different devices, including 3,800 drifting so-called Argo floats scattered across the oceans — published by the World Ocean Database and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. All of the measurements were taken between the surface of the water and a depth of 6,562 feet (2,000 meters).

They compared data taken between 1987 and 2019 with that taken from 1955 to 1986 and found that the oceans warmed 450% more in the more recent time stint than in the earlier bracket, according to the statement. The ocean has been the warmest in the past 10 years than it's been since measurements were first taken in the 1950s.

The oceans can be a good measure of the effect of climate change since they absorb the majority of excess heat from the atmosphere, the researchers wrote. The effects of the warming are already appearing as more extreme weather, rising sea levels and harm to ocean animals, according to the statement.

Though humans can work to reverse the effects of climate change, the oceans — which absorbed more than 90% of the excess heat — will take longer to bounce back than the land and atmosphere, which only absorbed 4%, according to the statement.

"Even with that small fraction affecting the atmosphere and land, the global heating has led to an increase in catastrophic fires in the Amazon, California and Australia in 2019, and we're seeing that continue into 2020," Cheng said. "The global ocean warming has caused marine heat waves in Tasman Sea and other regions."

One famous marine heat wave was the "blob," which led to major loss of marine life in the North Pacific between 2013 and 2015. Another hotspot found in 2017 in the Gulf of Mexico helped to fuel Hurricane Harvey; and in 2018, another hotspot in the Atlantic Ocean was blamed for fueling Hurricane Florence.

"Global warming is real, and it's getting worse," co-author John Abraham, professor of thermal sciences at the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota, said in the statement. "And this is just the tip of the iceberg for what is to come." 

Originally published on Live Science.

Yasemin Saplakoglu
Staff Writer

Yasemin is a staff writer at Live Science, covering health, neuroscience and biology. Her work has appeared in Scientific American, Science and the San Jose Mercury News. She has a bachelor's degree in biomedical engineering from the University of Connecticut and a graduate certificate in science communication from the University of California, Santa Cruz.

  • ImNoRocketSurgeonBut
    Stop putting the thermometers in Fumeroles and Black Smokers! It's amazing how you can "change" the climate by where you choose to place your thermometers and temperature sensors or what fudge factors you choose to arbitrarily massage the data. Criminal. Absolutely criminal the way science has been downgraded through instant grant seeking behavior.
    Reply
  • Jackie
    But, but, but, Greta. Sad fact, scientific debate is being driven by self promoting YouTube snake oil salesmen.
    Reply
  • invictus
    The article states that "In 2019, the ocean temperature was about 0.135 degrees Fahrenheit (0.075 degrees Celsius) higher than the average between 1981 and 2010 " - but that doesn't mean the oceans are hotter than before.For example, if the temperature is 10 and 20 degrees, the average is 15 degrees. If the temperature is 16 degrees the next year, it can be said that it's 1 degree higher than the average of the previous 2 years. But it's actually 4 degrees cooler than the previous year. This is just an example showing that the statement is very difficult to interpret.

    For example, perhaps half of the years between 1981 - 2010 are above the average and half are below average.

    Also, 2019 data exists, so why take the average only from 1981 - 2010? Why not include up to 2018?

    The statement "In 2019, the ocean temperature was about 0.135 degrees Fahrenheit (0.075 degrees Celsius) higher than the average between 1981 and 2010 " is basically meaningless and suspect. It leaves a lot more questions.
    The title of the article "Ocean Temperatures Have Reached a Record-Breaking High" is not supported by the data presented.

    The Hiroshima bomb analogy might be meant to bring up images of disaster and fear and not necessary in a scientific paper.

    The statements "They compared data taken between 1987 and 2019 with that taken from 1955 to 1986 and found that the oceans warmed 450% more in the more recent time stint than in the earlier bracket, according to the statement. The ocean has been the warmest in the past 10 years than it's been since measurements were first taken in the 1950s. " also is ambiguous.

    For example the "warmed 450% more" could mean an extremely small amount. And "The ocean has been the warmest in the past 10 years than it's been since measurements were first taken in the 1950s" is not clear. Does it mean the average of the past 10 years versus the averages of all possible 10 year periods since the 1950s? Does it mean that a single year in the past 10 years was the warmest since 1950, could that year have been in 2010 and the oceans are cooler now?

    Where are the graphs of the complete data set?
    Reply
  • sbrentbill
    admin said:
    Our planet's oceans are warmer than they've ever been in recorded human history.

    Ocean Temperatures Have Reached a Record-Breaking High : Read more
    Seriously you should present more facts with the outrageous statements you are making. First a .075 degree raise in ocean temperatures that you cannot possibly measure accurately is very low. You have no idea of what the ocean temperatures were thousands of years ago so making a historical statement like you did is way beyond belief. If you are going to bring in atom bombs as a comparison actually have facts to back it up but in this article there are none!
    Reply
  • sbrentbill
    invictus said:

    The article states that "In 2019, the ocean temperature was about 0.135 degrees Fahrenheit (0.075 degrees Celsius) higher than the average between 1981 and 2010 " - but that doesn't mean the oceans are hotter than before.
    For example, if the temperature is 10 and 20 degrees, the average is 15 degrees. If the temperature is 16 degrees the next year, it can be said that it's 1 degree higher than the average of the previous 2 years. But it's actually 4 degrees cooler than the previous year. This is just an example showing that the statement is very difficult to interpret.

    For example, perhaps half of the years between 1981 - 2010 are above the average and half are below average.

    Also, 2019 data exists, so why take the average only from 1981 - 2010? Why not include up to 2018?

    The statement "In 2019, the ocean temperature was about 0.135 degrees Fahrenheit (0.075 degrees Celsius) higher than the average between 1981 and 2010 " is basically meaningless and suspect. It leaves a lot more questions.

    The title of the article "Ocean Temperatures Have Reached a Record-Breaking High" is not supported by the data presented.

    The Hiroshima bomb analogy might be meant to bring up images of disaster and fear and not necessary in a scientific paper.

    The statements "They compared data taken between 1987 and 2019 with that taken from 1955 to 1986 and found that the oceans warmed 450% more in the more recent time stint than in the earlier bracket, according to the statement. The ocean has been the warmest in the past 10 years than it's been since measurements were first taken in the 1950s. " also is ambiguous.

    For example the "warmed 450% more" could mean an extremely small amount. And "The ocean has been the warmest in the past 10 years than it's been since measurements were first taken in the 1950s" is not clear. Does it mean the average of the past 10 years versus the averages of all possible 10 year periods since the 1950s? Does it mean that a single year in the past 10 years was the warmest since 1950, could that year have been in 2010 and the oceans are cooler now?

    Where are the graphs of the complete data set?
    You are making a more reasoned argument than the article did! Thanks.
    Reply
  • 4therecord
    What an utter load of baloney. This is sensationalism at it's best. To even consider a temperature change as small as this 0.075C is ridiculous. Practically impossible to be accurate. The margin of error is probably 15x greater. This article is a degradation to what real science is. I'm getting sick of this pseudo scientific propaganda!
    Reply
  • atrigueiro
    Maybe its time to STOP listening to environmentalists for solutions!

    Are Environmentalists the Oil Industry's Useful Idiots?
    https://medium.com/libertarian-socialism-american-style/are-environmentalists-the-fossil-fuel-industrys-useful-idiots-49ca072ce20e
    Reply
  • Truthseeker007
    invictus said:

    The article states that "In 2019, the ocean temperature was about 0.135 degrees Fahrenheit (0.075 degrees Celsius) higher than the average between 1981 and 2010 " - but that doesn't mean the oceans are hotter than before.
    For example, if the temperature is 10 and 20 degrees, the average is 15 degrees. If the temperature is 16 degrees the next year, it can be said that it's 1 degree higher than the average of the previous 2 years. But it's actually 4 degrees cooler than the previous year. This is just an example showing that the statement is very difficult to interpret.

    For example, perhaps half of the years between 1981 - 2010 are above the average and half are below average.

    Also, 2019 data exists, so why take the average only from 1981 - 2010? Why not include up to 2018?

    The statement "In 2019, the ocean temperature was about 0.135 degrees Fahrenheit (0.075 degrees Celsius) higher than the average between 1981 and 2010 " is basically meaningless and suspect. It leaves a lot more questions.

    The title of the article "Ocean Temperatures Have Reached a Record-Breaking High" is not supported by the data presented.

    The Hiroshima bomb analogy might be meant to bring up images of disaster and fear and not necessary in a scientific paper.

    The statements "They compared data taken between 1987 and 2019 with that taken from 1955 to 1986 and found that the oceans warmed 450% more in the more recent time stint than in the earlier bracket, according to the statement. The ocean has been the warmest in the past 10 years than it's been since measurements were first taken in the 1950s. " also is ambiguous.

    For example the "warmed 450% more" could mean an extremely small amount. And "The ocean has been the warmest in the past 10 years than it's been since measurements were first taken in the 1950s" is not clear. Does it mean the average of the past 10 years versus the averages of all possible 10 year periods since the 1950s? Does it mean that a single year in the past 10 years was the warmest since 1950, could that year have been in 2010 and the oceans are cooler now?

    Where are the graphs of the complete data set?

    And most people can't put this together. So the news story is very good propaganda. Thanks for pointing out the facts. This is what we need to do as a public more often. Do our own research and use are own minds and not believe what is told to us my the mainstream and the so called "authorities". Great job!
    Reply