As oceans are soaking up a lot more heat than it was previously anticipated, researchers are drawing up a negative image of the future of climate change.
Unsafe Levels of Global Warming
In contrast to previous figures, a recent study has concluded that reports from the last 25 years have been seriously undervaluing the status of climate change, and the seas are in fact absorbing 60% more heat than previously measured. This is due to the fact that Earth’s sensitivity to fossil fuel emissions are much higher than anticipated, meaning that the challenge to keep global warming within safe levels have been made more difficult than ever.
Revealing the Findings of the International Panel on Climate Change Report
It has been exposed that the oceans of the world are absorbing more than 90% of the excess heat trapped by greenhouse gases. The major issue is that for the past 25 years, we have been infiltrating our seas with an eyewatering amount of heat, precisely 150 times more energy that is used to globally generate electricity. Solving this issue just became a lot harder – more heat from the same amount of warming gases means that the Earth is a lot more sensitive to carbon dioxide than expected. The solution? Investing into renewable energy that provides a closed-loop carbon cycle.
Changing Our Current Climate Change Target
The covenant between the governments in the Paris agreement meant that global warming will be capped between 1.5C and 2C. Unfortunately, the new findings showed that in order to prevent the temperature rising above 2C, activities that generate carbon emission must be reduced by a further 25%.
The Effect of Climate Change on the Oceans
Other than the obvious setback to keep the global temperature from rising above 2C, there are other stakeholders also in danger. The marine ecosystem being one of the many: a warmer ocean will hold less oxygen, meaning that water life will be a lot harsher, possibly resulting in plants, animals and other creatures dying and going extinct.
The threat of sea levels rising is also in the picture. With the ocean warming up, there is an increase in thermal expansion and thus higher sea levels. Cities such as Guangzhou, China; New York, US; Mumbai, India; and Osaka, Japan, are many of the well-populated cities that are facing the higher risk of climate change.
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Source: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-46046067