NEW FINDINGS: Ocean warming 4 times faster than in 1980s — and likely to accelerate

Oceans are heating up more quickly than they were 40 years ago. Why Should you care? Because warmer seas increase sea level. HOW? When water heats up, it expands in volume, a phenomenon called thermal expansion; as the oceans absorb heat from the atmosphere due to climate change, the expanding water causes the sea level to rise. 

On a Personal note: As a scientist, I've studied climate change and global warming, and I've seen firsthand the effects of a warming planet. From melting glaciers and ice caps to stronger atmospheric pressure systems, stronger El Nino and La Nina events, more intense tropical cyclones (hurricanes and typhoons), more droughts, more flooding, sea level rise and warming ocean temperatures. In the latest study, scientists found global oceans are warming 4 times faster than in 1980s.  When oceans warm, Sea Levels Rise- and Coastal areas are more prone to flooding.

 Today's blog is about those findings.

(Flooded City Dock in downtown Annapolis. (Courtesy of Sveinn Storm))

Ocean warming 4 times faster than in 1980s — and likely to accelerate in coming decades

LIVE SCIENCE, JANUARY 30, 2025

Earth's oceans are getting warmer at an accelerating rate, researchers find — indicating that climate change is speeding up too.

The scientists found that ocean warming has more than quadrupled over the past 40 years and is likely to accelerate even faster in the future. The researchers published their findings in a new study published Tuesday (Jan. 28) in the journal Environmental Research Letters.

The rate of sea surface temperature warming has risen from 0.1 degrees Fahrenheit (0.06 degrees Celsius) per decade in the 1980s to 0.5 F (0.27 C) per decade today. The team's modeling suggests that this amount of accelerated warming will occur again in the next two decades and accelerate by an even greater margin if we don't address the causes of climate change and move away from fossil fuels, according to the study.

Study lead author Christopher Merchant, a professor in ocean and Earth observation at the University of Reading, U.K., said the oceans generally dictate the pace for global warming as a whole because they are Earth's main heat sink and absorb heat from the atmosphere. This means if ocean warming is accelerating, then it's a sign that climate change is accelerating too.

"Nature might do something different next, but on current trends, the world is warming faster than we have been used to," Merchant told Live Science in an email. "That means all the impacts are coming at us faster."

Global warming drives rising sea levels that threaten coastal communities, fuels more extreme weather and dries out land, compromising our ability to grow food. Scientists have warned that unchecked climate change will bring untold suffering to billions of people while driving a third of Earth's species to extinction.

My Experiences: Sea Level Rise in MA, MD, FL- Global Warming Reality

Flooding along  Annapolis City Dock & street closures. Cr:Elly Tierney)

 I live in Maryland and I'm from Boston, and both Annapolis, Maryland and Boston, Massachusetts  have had a lot of recurring flooding, especially over the last 5 years - whereas they only had it before on rare occasion. AND further south, because some roads in the Florida Keys that are NOW so prone to flooding, Florida is no longer going to try and fix them. 
I've Seen More Frequent Flooding in Boston, MA and Annapolis MD in Last 10 Years: - If you listen to NOAA weather radio, they'll tell you when coastal areas will flood. 10 years ago, it was rare for the parking lot near the Annapolis city docks to flood. Now, they flood at least once a MONTH.  
Here are the stories>> 

Flooding in downtown Annapolis closes Spa Creek Bridge, Compromise Street
https://www.capitalgazette.com/maryland/annapolis/ac-cn-city-dock-flooding-20191012-20191012-xkx4c2gozvaqfpwmoo7hmmlfii-story.html
Oct. 12, 2019
A combination of seasonal high tides, a full moon and a tropical storm stalled off the eastern seaboard have caused flooding in downtown Annapolis Saturday, leading city officials to close Spa Creek Bridge and Compromise Street, among other streets, city officials said.
 Annapolis City police spokeswoman Amy Miguez said residents should expect the bridge that connects Eastport and downtown to be closed well into the evening as the tides continue to rise, peaking at high tide around 5:30 p.m.

BOSTON FLOODING - 
1) King tides bring flooding — and a glimpse of the future — to downtown Boston
By Nik DeCosta-Klipa Boston.com Staff  October 29, 2019
Boston Harbor inundated the city’s waterfront Tuesday for the second time this week. But it wasn’t because of any rain or storm surge. Rather, it was the semiannual return of the king tides.
The unusually high tides occur once or twice a year when the orbits of the sun, moon, and Earth are aligned and result in a sea level rise up to two feet higher than average high tides. This week, that meant minor flooding in downtown Boston, particularly at Long Wharf, where onlookers took the opportunity to splash through the few inches of ocean water that had overflowed onto the historic pier.


2) See Boston streets awash during its worst coastal flooding in 40 years

Jan 4, 2018-  Vehicles got caught in water-logged Boston streets on Thursday, as the city experienced its worst coastal flooding in 40 years. Firefighters had to rescue people from their cars, as the water continued to travel inland.

3) Flooding in the Florida Keys: AT $60 MILLION A MILE, THE KEYS MAY ABANDON SOME ROADS TO SEA RISE RATHER THAN RAISE THEM
Dec 2019 Miami Herald
Last month, the Keys asked the state for $150 million to address sea level rise. Newly released cost estimates show the county could blow that entire amount on a few miles of road elevation. Elevating less than three miles of Old State Road 4A on Sugarloaf Key to withstand sea rise and king tide by 2025 could cost $75 million dollars, Monroe’s head of resilience revealed. More from the Miami Herald.