Global Oceans Warming at Alarming Rate, Warning 100 Scientists
A major international report by 100 scientists warns that global oceans are warming at an alarming rate, absorbing heat equivalent to 12 Hiroshima bombs per second and threatening marine ecosystems.
A groundbreaking report by more than 100 international scientists, based on four decades of data, warns that the world's oceans are warming at an alarming and dangerous rate.
Stored heat in the water is driving destructive phenomena and altering the natural balance, while the world remains unprepared for the consequences. Pierre Barlet, CEO of the institute that published the report, explains that the ocean is changing before our eyes, with water warming, sea-level rise, and ecosystem degradation acting as intertwined signs of deep, long-term change.
Oceans absorb about 90% of the excess heat generated by burning fossil fuels, and their warming rate has doubled over the past 20 years. The report notes that over the past year, an immense amount of heat was absorbed, equivalent to the energy of 12 Hiroshima bombs per second.
This immense heat drives marine heatwaves, intensifies powerful storms like Storm Louis, which caused giant waves and heavy damage, and accelerates sea-level rise due to melting glaciers. Meanwhile, acidity has risen by about 17% since 1985, impairing the ability of corals and marine life to build shells.
Damage is already visible on the ground: the Arctic has recorded ice loss equivalent to the area of Spain every decade, and Antarctica has seen a massive breeding failure of emperor penguins. In Europe, unprecedented heatwaves in the Mediterranean lasted for weeks. Scientist Blanca Fernandez-Alvarez notes that these are not isolated events, but a continuous shift altering marine living conditions.
Karina von Schuckmann, one of the report's authors, emphasizes that the ocean change is not a distant environmental issue, but an immediate economic, developmental, and security challenge, serving as a warning for coastal regions worldwide.
