New ocean temperature records were broken every day for a year, according to the US National Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration (NOAA) and the University of Maine’s Climate Reanalyzer.
This for the period of a year leading to mid-March 2024.
The NOAA said the global ocean experienced an average daily marine heatwave coverage of 32% last year, which is higher than the previous record of 23% in 2016.
More frequent and intense marine heatwaves bears negative consequences for ocean ecosystems and coral reefs because around 90% of the energy that has built up in the Earth’s system since 1971, is stored in the ocean.
According to an observation by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) over observations of around 65 years, the emergence of natural El Niño climate pattern, human-led climate change has caused ocean heat to reach its highest level in the WMO’s 65-year observational record.