Page 42 - bne IntelliNews monthly magazine December 2023

42 I Special focus I COP28 bne December 2023
Pacific Ocean temperature
20 of 35 vital signs are now record levels
Academics are becoming alarmed as all the indicators they use to measure the health of the planet are starting to flash red.
On the basis of time series data, 20
of the 35 so-called “vital signs” have already breached their safe levels and are now showing record extremes.
“These data show how the continued pursuit of business as usual has, ironically, led to unprecedented pressure on the Earth system, resulting in many climate-related variables entering uncharted territory,”
Oxford University said in its study.
Ice caps are melting
One of the consequences of the accelerated heating is already visible. That has led to unprecedented low levels of sea ice surrounding Antarctica. Each line in the charts below corresponds to a different year, with darker grey representing later years.
“Ocean acidity, glacier thickness, and Greenland ice mass all fell to record lows, whereas sea level rise and ocean heat content rose to record highs. The increase in heat content and the rapid rise in sea surface temperatures are especially troubling, because they could have many serious impacts, including the loss of sea life, coral reefs dying because of bleaching, and a rise in
the intensity of large tropical storms,” Oxford University says.
Floods and storms
Another very visible consequence
of the changes in the climate is the unprecedented storms this year. Climate change has already contributed significantly to human suffering as weather-related deaths from everything from heat stoke to hurricanes has rapidly increased in 2023.
Hot oceans
The seas are the temperature of bath water and the land is baking. This year the rise the global temperature in June already passed the 1.5C limit compared to the 1850-1900 base set in the Paris Accords as the upper limit for global warming.
Leon Simons, a board member of the Club of Rome and climate expert, released a scary string of charts recently that show ocean temperatures are at record breaking levels across the board and show no sign of slowing down.
“Do people understand how crazy it
is that these temperature records are being shattered SIMULTANEOUSLY and CONTINUOUSLY for months [this year],” said Simons in a tweet. “If the extreme weather around the world is shocking to you now, hold onto your hats. 2023 is just a warmup.”
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"A massive heat blob is sitting across the Pacific Ocean. Thermal inertia in the oceans is going to continue for a very long time due to the incredible amount of energy oceans have been absorbing due to anthropogenic greenhouse warming," says Simons.
Global Sea Surface Temperatures keep running record high. "Based
on the previous two strong El Niños, it might take another full year until temperatures dip below the pre-2023 records again," says Leon Simons.
“Do people understand how crazy it is that these temperature records are being shattered simultaneously and continuously for months”