he Global warming Three times the marine heat waves have doubled since 1940According to a study conducted by a research team from the Balear islands University (UIB), the Mediterranean Institute for Advanced Studies (Imedea, CSIC-UIB) and National Center for Air Cover Sciences From the University of Reading, in UK.
In a press release, Balear Islands University announced that the main conclusion that is extracted from the investigation is that Three intense heat days have doubled Since 1940, global warming. The effect mainly caused human activities, without which nearly half of these extremist rings did not happen.
“Marine heat waves are long periods of high temperatures on the surface of the sea, such as those that affected the waters of the British islands and Mediterranean Sea In the summer of 2023, these phenomena have important consequences for marine life, for example, affecting coral reefs and marine meadows, “according to the professor of physics at UIB and the main author of the study, the doctor, the doctor Marta Marcos.
More frequent, more intense and more durable
Over the past decades, the scientific community has found k repetitionthe intensity and Doriacion From marine heat waves increased. The challenge remains to determine a contribution Climate Because of the human activity of marine thermometers note.
To do this, the researchers have developed a backward model of sea surface temperatures from 1940 to the global range. This model removes global warming trends, shows a stable climate and allows you to compare this data with observed trends over more than eight decades. Everything, with the aim of measurement The contribution of climate change To marine heat waves.
According to the data of this model, 47 % of the marine heat waves that occurred between 2000 and 2020 were not eligible Extremist If the effect of global warming is not. In addition, the warming was also linked to an increase of nearly three times in the number of days in the year when the oceans suffered from the severe heat on the surface.
The results also showed that global warming is responsible for a 1STC increase In the severity of marine heat waves throughout these contracts -since 1940 -.
“If we look at the episode that lived in the summer of 2023, the data shows exceptionally hot summer that lived between 2021 and 2023, with a greater increase of the second every year, which is due to the phenomenon of global warming,” says Dr. Marta Marcos. “This is Responsibility in generating marine heat waves We also noticed this at other times and in other parts of the world, such as the heat wave in the northeastern Pacific between 2014 and 2015 or the heat wave that affected the Tasmania Sea between 2015 and 2016.
Results also show inflated guidelines for marine heat waves As of 2000, This highlights the harmful role of global warming in the maximum temperature of the sea surface.
Various areas, different effects
The study allowed monitoring Insecurity In the geographical distribution of registered marine heat waves, the effect of global heating is changing according to the region.
Thus, there are areas, such as tropical and tropical areas in the East Pacific and East Atlantic, where sea heat waves occur frequent but not more intense. On the other hand, in the northern regions of Atlantic Ocean and Selma From the Baltic Sea, the heat waves are no longer more stable, but More intense.
Researchers warn that these changes have profound effects on Ecological air conditioning To the new climatic conditions, which respond to a set of severe heat and the duration of the event.
The developed model can also provide information about the role of global warming in these local and regional changes, and contribute to the expectation of risks and threats. It also helps to design adaptation and mitigation strategies New climate context and environment.
