Research shows that 2020 is the warmest year in the ocean
Science and Technology Daily, Beijing, January 19 (Reporter Lu Chengkuan) The reporter learned from the Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences on the 19th that researchers from 13 units at home and abroad issued the "Global Ocean Warming 2020 Annual Report" (hereinafter referred to as "Report ").
The "Report" pointed out that the ocean will continue to warm up in 2020, making it the warmest year since modern ocean observation records.
Related results were published in "Progress in Atmospheric Science".
More than 90% of the heat of global warming is stored by the ocean, and ocean heat content has become one of the best indicators for judging global warming.
The latest data shows that in 2020, the amount of heat absorbed by the upper 2000 meters of the global ocean has increased by 2×1022 Joules compared to 2019. This heat can boil 1.3 billion 1.5-liter electric kettles of water.
"In the past 80 years, the oceans have been warmer in every decade than the previous decade. The warming of the oceans has also caused more severe typhoons and more extreme rainfall." said Cheng Lijing, an associate researcher at the Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences.
At the same time, the "Report" also pointed out that the salinity change of the ocean "salinity to salty, light to light" has intensified, and the vertical stratification of sea water continues to increase.
In addition, the strengthening of ocean stratification will inhibit the ocean's vertical heat exchange and dissolved oxygen transport, which will further increase the global temperature and affect the health of marine ecosystems.
Cheng Lijing said that due to the global new crown pneumonia epidemic, global carbon emissions will decline slightly in 2020, but the global ocean temperature has continued to increase and reach a record high.
Due to the slow and lagging nature of the ocean’s response to climate change, the effects of ocean warming caused by past carbon emissions will continue for at least several decades.
This phenomenon highlights the important role of the ocean in global climate change.