Something scary is growing under the sea

This is the text of the comment. Analysis and positions of the writer.

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There is a heat wave occurring in the oceans of the world.

Surface temperatures are the highest since satellite measurements began.

These are ominous signs of a possible imminent “Super El Nino”.

But this is what happens in the long run, deep down, that should really worry us.

It’s easy to get anxious when reports pour in about the state of the world’s oceans.

The seas do us such a huge favor; all 90 percent More of the heat trapped on Earth by carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases is swallowed up by the oceans.

As careless (or irresponsible) teens, we can act a little as we like – someone takes us and kicks us out.

The energy absorbed by the oceans is equivalent to detonating five Hiroshima bombs. per second. It’s as if every single person on Earth, just over eight billion people, is constantly making 100 frozen pizzas at the same time. all the time.

If all that heat energy stayed in the atmosphere instead, we would feel a 36-degree rise.

So it’s no surprise that heat records are now being broken.

A few days ago, data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa) came down showing that the average sea surface temperature has been at 21.1 degrees since the start of April — surpassing the previous high of 21 degrees from 2016.

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The only question is what are the consequences. New studies have been able to show how warm water penetrates deeper.

Climate models around the world continue to project a possible El Niño later this year as the trade winds over the Pacific Ocean slow, giving surface waters time to warm.

El Niño affects climate and weather around the world, and is usually the result of record temperatures. Some talk about a “super El Niño,” which is characterized by very high temperatures in a central part of the Pacific Ocean.

We know what El Niño can bring. It’s even worse with what’s going on in the great ocean depths.

series of influences

Recently, a report came out suggesting that melting ice around Antarctica could be causing this fast deceleration in deep ocean currents around the continent as early as 2050, with the climate changing for centuries as a result. The research showed that if emissions continue at today’s levels, currents in the deepest parts of the ocean will slow by 40 percent over the next three decades.

Researchers say this could generate a cascade of effects that could raise sea levels, change weather patterns and starve marine life of an important source of nutrients.

The slowdown will also reduce the ability of the oceans to absorb carbon dioxide and thus more and more greenhouse gases will remain in the atmosphere. The teen parent is becoming less interested in cleaning up after us.

But we’ve heard all these reports before. They will not be less.

I recently interviewed Climate Minister Romina Pormukthari, who said it will be very difficult to hit the 1.5° target unless big countries like Russia, China and the US come together and do more.

There is no indication that this will happen.

He needs a haircut

But in the eyes of others, it seems more optimistic. Writing in Green Capitalism by Timbro förlag, writer Joachim Bromann believes that humanity has only made the same journey that many people make when they reach adulthood. Of course we took on debt, but we used fossil fuels as an investment in a better future, we didn’t just burn oil aimlessly, he says.

“As we made it through the early difficult years of adulthood, we created the conditions to live without constantly new loans. In many ways, it’s time for humanity to grow up, get a haircut and get a job,” Broman writes, claiming that we now have the technology to phase out the fuel. fossil and start paying.

It looks seductively simple. As a picture, it is easy to take.

But for the oceans, this is less important. They will continue to heat for decades, maybe centuries.

The problem is that we refuse to grow up.

Unfortunately, there are no adults in the room.