I've been studying climate change for decades, and have seen a lot of changes. Winters in the northeastern U.S. are nowhere near as snow-filled as they used to be 30-40 years ago. Crepe Myrtle trees which never grew in Maryland because it was too cold in the 1960s, 70s and 80s, now thrive. Sharks are now common off the coast of southern New England because of the warmer waters. The boreal (northern) forests have been pulling further north over the last 20 years. Today's blog contains highlights from a World Meteorological Society report about more warming effects this year!
Record highs at sea and on land, and a ‘shocking’ decline in Antarctic ice
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) held an impromptu televised press conference on July 10, 2023 to answer questions and to confirm a series of announcements about record highs temps on land and at sea. There's also been a record decline in Antarctic sea ice. The scientists said the first week of July 2023 was the warmest week yet recorded. They said global sea surface temperatures were at a record high in May and June 2023. They called the decline in Antarctic sea ice "shocking." And they said these developments were "… of great concern to the scientific community and indeed to everybody.
Omar Baddour, Chief of Climate Monitoring at WMO, and Michael Sparrow, Chief World Climate Research Program with a specialization in Antarctica, led the press event.
These scientists said that the first week of July 2023 was the warmest week yet recorded. They said global sea surface temperatures were at a record high in May and June 2023. They spelled out the amount of decline in Antarctic sea ice.
‘We’re in uncharted territory’
El Niño is characterized by a warming of the Pacific Ocean. The WMO said that – combined with human-induced climate warming – the weather pattern is expected to hike up global temperatures. The WMO officials told journalists in Geneva today that impacts can be expected to extend into 2024 and beyond.
Just Getting Started with the Warmth This Year
During an El Niño year, you get higher temperatures in the atmosphere as well because heat is moving from the oceans to the atmosphere.
We are actually at the beginning of that process, so El Niño hasn’t had as much of an effect as it is going to later in the year. So, we’re seeing these high temperatures in the North Atlantic…despite the fact that El Niño hasn’t really got going yet.
‘Shocking’ decline in Antarctic sea ice
Meanwhile Antarctic sea ice levels reached their lowest extent for June since satellite observations began. They are a “shocking” 17 per cent below average. An article at UN News reported: … this year’s readings broke the June 2022 record by a substantial margin and represented ‘a really dramatic drop in the sea ice extent in the Antarctica’ – some 2.6 million square kilometers of lost sea ice.
Impact on fisheries
Beyond Antarctica, the WMO warned that the high sea surface temps would also impact fisheries distribution and ocean ecosystems, as well as inland: It is not only the surface temperature of the water, but the whole ocean is becoming warmer and absorbing energy that will remain there for hundreds of years.
(MY NOTE: Southern waters can get too warm for some fish that would migrate north, and northern waters would be warm enough to have them thrive. Fishermen off the coast of California have noticed that now).
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