2023 was the hottest year ever recorded on Earth. This included oceans around the world, where records fell like dominoes. Last week, about 5,000 scientists gathered in New Orleans for the American Geophysical Union’s biennial marine science conference. Environmental reporter James Dineen was there to take the temperatures of researchers who have been observing changes occurring in the ocean. You can listen to his segment around 05:00 in the embedded player or read the transcript below.
transcript
James Dineen: There was one thing on everyone’s mind at the world’s largest gathering of marine scientists. It’s heat.
England: “Warming over the past few decades, especially in 2023, is sweeping the sector.”
James: Matthew England is an oceanographer at the University of New South Wales in Australia. He was one of thousands of marine scientists who gathered in New Orleans to discuss the latest research on what’s happening in the ocean.
There will be presentations on everything from new species of octopus to robot flying fish. However, rising temperatures are gaining attention.
England: “The burning of fossil fuels, the emission of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, we know that it is trapped heat, and we know that more than 90 per cent of it escapes into the ocean. I know.”
Last year’s average sea surface temperature broke previous records, rising about 0.2 degrees Celsius above 2022 levels. The amount of heat in the ocean at a depth of 2,000 meters also broke a new record. Then, an abnormal marine heat wave occurred from the Atlantic Ocean to the Sea of Japan.
England: “This was the first year on record where it was difficult to find waters that were not warmer than average.”
Researchers here are working to understand the causes and consequences of that fever.
Let’s consider the mystery of the extent of sea ice in Antarctica. It was surprisingly strong until 2016, but it declined sharply that year. The record low was set again in 2022, but then again in 2023 when the Antarctic winter ice did not recover.
But perhaps the most obvious victim of 2023 temperatures was coral reefs. Large areas of coral, especially around the Florida Keys in the Gulf of Mexico, bleached and died.
Ian Enox of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration studies coral reefs in the Keys. He says seeing so many corals die was a painful experience, but it only drove home the urgency for action.
Enoch: “Some people will see this and feel downtrodden. And I’ve seen people come together and be motivated to actually do something meaningful and be able to confront this issue head on. I’ve seen the exact opposite situation.”
Amy Aprile of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts is working on different approaches to restoring coral ecosystems. There are many ideas. But one of her new approaches her team is working on is underwater use. sound.
Apryl: Sound is a basic signal used by coral reef organisms. We understand that it is part of their communication strategy and what they rely on to create a healthy environment. ”
In tests on coral reefs in the Virgin Islands, researchers found that broadcasting underwater recordings of healthy coral reef ecosystems increased the rate at which coral larvae attached to the reef. This could help make coral restoration more effective in the face of rising temperatures.
Apryl: This year has been unprecedented. But the thing that sticks with me and keeps me optimistic is that we’re just getting started and we’re just scratching the surface in putting these solutions into action.
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Source: www.newscientist.com
