The average temperature of the ocean surface this week reached a record of 20.96 ºC, according to data from the European Copernicus observatory released this Friday.
That peak, which according to the ERA5 database was reached on July 30, surpassed “the previous record of 20.95ºC from March 2016,” a Copernicus spokesperson told AFP.
These data refer to the oceans between the 60th parallel north and south, and exclude only the polar regions. The oceans absorb 90% of the excess heat of the Earth system caused by human activity. of the industrial age and this accumulation of energy continues to increase as greenhouse gases accumulate in the atmosphere.
Piers Forster, from the University of Leeds in the UK, said the Copernicus data was “very robust” and confirmed by satellite observations and temperature records taken directly from the sea from ships and weather buoys.
“Ocean heat wave poses an immediate threat to some forms of marine lifewe are already seeing signs of coral bleaching in Florida as a direct consequence and I expect more negative consequences,” said this professor specializing in climate change.