The world’s oceans have been warming twice as fast in the last decade

The University of New South Wales has identified a marked acceleration in global ocean temperature rise over the past three decades. The trend reached its highest levels this year.

Over 90 per cent of the excess heat produced by humans is absorbed by the ocean. This is helping to curb planetary warming, but it also has negative consequences. Marine ecosystems are facing severe heat stress, with the potential for extinction of many species.

Researchers analysed ocean temperature data from the 1950s to the present. They found that warming since 2010 has been twice as fast as from 1990 to 2000.