RSS
Home
Ocean surface temperatures set new record
Print
Email
RSS
Subscribe
Global mean sea level from TOPEX/Poseidon and Jason-1
NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) announces that the global average ocean surface temperature was the warmest on record, 1.06 degrees F (0.59 degree C) above the 20th century average of 61.5 degrees F (16.4 degrees C).
Arctic sea ice coverage also diminished. Arctic sea ice covered an average of 4.4 million square miles (11.5 million square kilometers) during June, according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center. This is 5.6 percent below the 1979-2000 average extent. By contrast, the 2007 record for the least Arctic sea ice extent was 5.5 percent below average.
Ocean currents and the mixing of surface and sub-surface waters cause ocean surface temperatures can vary from year to year. Setting a new high temperature mark this year is an indicator of a continuing slow warming of our planet.
What has been very consistent has been the rise in global sea levels. The measurements are made using satellite altimeter measurements which cover the entire planet and are very accurate.
3 millimeters per year is 0.3 meters per 100 years or about 1 foot at the current rate. If the rate increases because of faster warming or glacial melting, the amount of rise by the end of the century could be greater, maybe substantially greater.
Reducing greenhouse gas emissions is a way to reduce the rate of global warming and the resultant changes to our environment such as rising sea levels. It is probably not possible to stop or reverse global warming, but small changes to the rate of warming now can have big impacts many years from now. A small economic investment now can mitigate huge costs later. A massive economic investment now may not, however, be justified by the amount of mitigation in future costs. We can say their will be future costs to global warming (like flooding coastlines and the loss of real estate), but we can’t make accurate predictions about how high these costs will be.
A reasonable course of action now would be to promote the development of renewable energy resources to mitigate future damages. We don’t have to drastically alter our current economies or lifestyles as the benefits might not justify the costs.
