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January 13, 2021 The global average temperature of the oceans in 2020 marked the warmest value ever recorded, the latest in a five-year series of constant seawater warming, all of which have occurred since 2015. This



is what emerges from the first study on global warming of the oceans, with data relating to 2020, prepared by an international team of scientists including Italian researchers from the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (Ingv) and Enea, entitled 'Upper Ocean Temperatures Hit Record High in 2020 ', just published in the international journal Advances in Atmospheric Sciences.



Mediterranean in the lead

The 2020 data show that the ocean layer between the surface and 2,000 meters deep absorbed 20 Zettajoules compared to the previous year, equivalent to the heat produced by 630 billion hair dryers running day and night for a whole year.



According to the researchers, "the Mediterranean Sea is not far behind, on the contrary: of all the areas analyzed in detail in this research, the Mediterranean is the basin that shows the greatest rate of warming in recent years, confirming what has already been found in the State Report of the Copernicus European Marine Service Ocean of 2016 and 2018, continuing a process that began about thirty years ago but with a higher increase compared to other oceanic areas ". 



Measuring global warming

The heat content of the ocean is the best indicator of whether the planet is warming or not.

As stated a few days ago for the atmospheric sector by the European Copernicus Climate Change service, 2020 and 2016 are the two hottest years ever recorded considering, however, that 2016 was the year of El Niño, the climatic phenomenon periodic that determines a strong warming of oceanic waters.



"90% of the heat of global warming ends up in the oceans so in reality 'global warming' is nothing more than 'ocean warming'", underlines Simona Simoncelli of the Ingv of Bologna and the Italian co-author of the study together with Franco Reseghetti of the Marine Environment Research Center 'S.

Teresa of Enea.



"Warmer oceans have a major impact on local weather conditions, generating more powerful storms and promoting sea level rise. The research results provide further clear evidence indicating the need to act soon to limit the effects of climate change. in progress ", adds Simoncelli.



It is not an academic question but of life on Earth

"The observed warming has consequences", highlights the researcher Enea, Franco Reseghetti: "The planet Earth is getting hotter every year, this is not just a problem of the academic world, because climate change affects our lives and our society on a daily basis. The lives of more and more people are being seriously endangered and unfortunately not enough is being done to try to limit the harmful effects of global climate change. "



The planet and the ever-warming oceans have surprising and terrible effects such as, for example, the very large fires that have broken out in Australia, parts of the Amazon region and the western United States.

Such extreme phenomena are bound to become more and more common in the future.

In addition, warmer oceans lead to greater warming of the atmosphere and a warmer atmosphere causes more intense rains, more storms and hurricanes, in addition to greater intensity, also increasing the risk of flooding.



Countries in the Mediterranean area were also hit by major summer fires (Spain, Portugal, Greece and Italy), and suffered damage from tornadoes and extreme rainfall in the hottest year ever measured in Europe.

The scientists of the team were able to complete the study, despite the difficulties related to the pandemic, thanks to the use of new methodologies for the analysis of sea water temperature data and various types of probes that made it possible to reach 2000 m .

depth.

"The results obtained are proof that there are far-reaching global effects on the environment and society, therefore, there is a strong invitation to intervene to significantly limit greenhouse gas emissions and at the same time to adapt to the consequences now inevitable of the incessant warming that has taken place in recent decades ", conclude the researchers.