Scientists raised the alarm on Friday that record ocean temperatures could rise even higher after a new peak was recorded this week.
The average daily global sea surface temperature hit 20.96C, according to the EU’s Climate Change Service Copernicus, narrowly beating the previous high in March 2016.
But this new record is expected to be surpassed in coming months as global ocean temperatures tend to be warmest in March because it is the end of the southern hemisphere summer.
Samantha Burgess, deputy director of Copernicus, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “That is the concern. Warmer sea surface temperatures lead to a warmer atmosphere and more evaporation, and both of these lead to more moisture in the atmosphere which can also lead to more intense rainfall events...and warmer sea surface temperatures may also lead to more energy being available for hurricanes.”
She also highlighted the “biological and chemical impact” of warmer seas, particularly “marine heatwaves”.
Professor Helen Findlay, biological oceanographer at the Plymouth Marine Laboratory, warned that many marine creatures are unable to regulate their own temperatures so they rely on “the water temperature around them”.
She emphasised: “We are seeing changes already in terms of species distributions, prevalence of harmful algae blooms popping up maybe where we would not necessarily expect them, and the species shifting from warmer southern locations up into the colder regions as well which is quite worrying.”
She stressed that changes in the “food chain” around Britain’s waters were happening, with key nutrients not being replenished.
She added: “We are also seeing more species coming up from the south, things like European anchovy or recently examples of Mediterranean octopus coming up into our waters and that is having a knock-on impact for the fish that we catch. and consequences of economics.”
Oceans act as a vital climate regulator as they soak up heat, generate half the world’s oxygen and drive weather patterns. But as they warm they lose their ability to absorb carbon dioxide, exacerbating climate change.
Waves are also getting bigger and surf at least 13ft (about four metres) tall is becoming more common off California’s coast as the planet warms, according to innovative new research.
Oceanographer Peter Bromirski analysed seismic records dating back to 1931 to measure the change in wave height.He found that average winter wave heights have grown by as much as a foot since 1970, when global warming is believed to have begun accelerating.
