health
The ocean has shielded us from the worst of climate change. Now it is running a fever
Nearly every indicator of climate change is flashing red. But we still hold the tools available to bring the planet back into balance
TL;DR
- Marine heatwaves have tripled since the early 1990s, causing significant damage to marine ecosystems.
- The ocean has absorbed over 90% of the excess heat trapped by human activity.
- The Earth's energy imbalance, the gap between incoming solar energy and outgoing radiated energy, has more than doubled since the late 20th century.
- Human-induced warming has reached approximately 1.37C above pre-industrial levels.
- The rate of sea-level rise has more than doubled in recent decades, reaching a new record of 23cm since 1901.
- Monitoring systems for ocean and Earth's energy imbalance are being scaled back, threatening our ability to track climate change.
- Despite the dire indicators, human activity can still work to bring the planet back into balance.