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The Independent
12-06-2025
- Science
- The Independent
Oceans have absorbed heat of 1.7 billion atomic bombs, scientists warn as UN summit opens in Nice
Oceans have absorbed enough heat since the Paris Agreement was signed to match the energy of 1.7 billion atomic bomb explosions, scientists warned just as the UN Ocean Conference got underway in Nice. The figures were shared by researchers on the sidelines of the summit where delegations from countries were working to create a global treaty for ocean conservation. Scientists said warming was accelerating changes in marine systems, driving sea level rise, sea ice loss, and increasing marine heatwaves. 'Global warming over the last 10 years equates to about 1.7 billion atomic bomb explosions,' said Alex Sen Gupta, associate professor at the University of New South Wales. 'If we divide this by the number of seconds in 10 years, it's equivalent to about five atomic explosions worth of energy every single second. Clearly this is having an effect on the ocean – it is causing the sea level to rise, our ice systems to melt, and our atmosphere and oceans to warm.' As the conference opened on Monday, UN secretary general António Guterres said the world 'must move from plunder to protection to save the oceans'. Among the most serious warnings are new records set for sea surface temperatures this year, an all-time low for global sea ice, and what scientists say is the largest coral bleaching event ever recorded, affecting 84 per cent of monitored reef areas. 'My recent research has shown that marine heatwaves have caused severe impacts globally over the past few years,' said Dr Kathryn E Smith of the Marine Biological Association of the UK. 'We've seen more fisheries collapses, mass mortality events, and damage to ecosystems. The warming oceans have also fuelled storms on land causing billions of dollars in damages and resulting in thousands of deaths. These impacts have all occurred before we have reached the 1.5 C benchmark. A decade on from the Paris Agreement it is clear that it's even more important than ever that we make every effort not to exceed the warming limits agreed in 2015.' The UN Ocean Conference is co-hosted this year by France and Costa Rica, with participation from over 100 countries. It aims to accelerate action to meet global ocean protection targets and finalise voluntary commitments on issues including pollution, overfishing, deep-sea mining and marine biodiversity. France's president Emmanuel Macron said the High Seas Treaty could come into force as early as January 2026. Eighteen countries ratified the treaty during the opening sessions, bringing the total to 49 – just 11 short of the number needed for adoption. Mr Macron also reiterated France's call for a moratorium on deep-sea mining, declaring the "oceans are not for sale". Several experts at the Nice conference said ocean protection must now move from pledges to policies. The conference is expected to issue the 'Nice Ocean Action Plan' and press for the legally binding entry into force of the High Seas Treaty. The UK, which had faced criticism for delays, said it would introduce legislation by the end of the year to ratify the High Seas Treaty. 'Our oceans are dying. Without urgent action, they will be irreversibly destroyed,' marine minister Emma Hardy said. ' Climate change is pushing our ocean into unknown territory, causing collapse and irreparable damage to many valuable ecosystems and marine species,' Dr Karen Filbee-Dexter from the University of Western Australia noted. 'What is most concerning is our emissions have already locked us into impacts that will be felt for generations.' Dr Jennifer Francis, senior scientist at the Woodwell Climate Research Centre, said sea ice loss in the Arctic was one of the clearest indicators of climate disruption. 'During summer, the real estate it covers has diminished by nearly half and its volume by nearly three-quarters in less than a human's lifespan,' she said. 'The loss of ice means ships can now travel more freely along polar routes, with economic benefits but higher risks of fuel spills. Larger areas of open water allow marine algae to proliferate in abnormal ways.' A final political declaration and the Nice Ocean Action Plan are expected at the end of the summit on Friday. Scientists, small island leaders and civil society groups are calling for stronger integration between climate policy and marine conservation efforts. 'Ultimately, the vast majority of ocean impacts that we have seen in the last decade are a result of human induced climate change,' Dr Smith said. 'The escalation of impacts we are seeing is, quite frankly, shocking and without reducing emissions and use of fossil fuels globally, the impacts we see are only going to increase further in coming years.'
The Age
05-06-2025
- Science
- The Age
‘Fast running out of time to turn the tide': Australia at sea in vast marine heatwave
A marine heatwave causing extreme heat and rainfall has enveloped Australia and stretched for 40 million square kilometres across the south-west Pacific, bringing intense heat, extreme rainfall and sea-level rises. The World Meteorological Organisation has confirmed 2024 was the hottest year on record in the south-west Pacific, which spans more than 10 per cent of the global ocean surface area. Sea surface temperatures were the highest on record and ocean heat content was at near-record levels in 2024. The State of the Climate in the South-West Pacific 2024 report outlined deadly impacts, including a record-breaking streak of tropical cyclones that hit the Philippines, existential threats to a tropical glacier in Indonesia's New Guinea. Marine heatwaves in the south-west Pacific extended for nearly 40 million square kilometres, over 10 per cent of the global ocean surface area. Across the region, the average temperature was almost half a degree warmer than the 1991–2020 average. Ocean warming and accelerated loss of ice mass from the ice sheets contributed to the rise of the global mean sea level by 4.7 millimetres per year between 2015 and 2024, reaching a new record observed high in 2024, the organisation's report found. 'Sea-level rise is an existential threat to entire island nations,' the secretary-general of the World Meteorological Organsiation, Celeste Saulo, said. 'It is increasingly evident that we are fast running out of time to turn the tide.' It is estimated that each year, at least 50,000 Pacific islanders face the risk of displacement due to the adverse effects of climate change. The waters around Australia have had a prolonged marine heatwave, not just in the Pacific but also the Indian and Southern oceans. Associate Professor Alex Sen Gupta, from the University of New South Wales Climate Change Research Centre, said that not only were marine temperatures around Australia at a record last year, there was a massive jump in heat from the previous record set the year prior.
Sydney Morning Herald
05-06-2025
- Science
- Sydney Morning Herald
‘Fast running out of time to turn the tide': Australia at sea in vast marine heatwave
A marine heatwave causing extreme heat and rainfall has enveloped Australia and stretched for 40 million square kilometres across the south-west Pacific, bringing intense heat, extreme rainfall and sea-level rises. The World Meteorological Organisation has confirmed 2024 was the hottest year on record in the south-west Pacific, which spans more than 10 per cent of the global ocean surface area. Sea surface temperatures were the highest on record and ocean heat content was at near-record levels in 2024. The State of the Climate in the South-West Pacific 2024 report outlined deadly impacts, including a record-breaking streak of tropical cyclones that hit the Philippines, existential threats to a tropical glacier in Indonesia's New Guinea. Marine heatwaves in the south-west Pacific extended for nearly 40 million square kilometres, over 10 per cent of the global ocean surface area. Across the region, the average temperature was almost half a degree warmer than the 1991–2020 average. Ocean warming and accelerated loss of ice mass from the ice sheets contributed to the rise of the global mean sea level by 4.7 millimetres per year between 2015 and 2024, reaching a new record observed high in 2024, the organisation's report found. 'Sea-level rise is an existential threat to entire island nations,' the secretary-general of the World Meteorological Organsiation, Celeste Saulo, said. 'It is increasingly evident that we are fast running out of time to turn the tide.' It is estimated that each year, at least 50,000 Pacific islanders face the risk of displacement due to the adverse effects of climate change. The waters around Australia have had a prolonged marine heatwave, not just in the Pacific but also the Indian and Southern oceans. Associate Professor Alex Sen Gupta, from the University of New South Wales Climate Change Research Centre, said that not only were marine temperatures around Australia at a record last year, there was a massive jump in heat from the previous record set the year prior.
The Sun
23-04-2025
- Science
- The Sun
Coral reefs pushed to brink as bleaching crisis worsens
PARIS: An unprecedented coral bleaching episode has spread to 84 percent of the world's reefs in an unfolding human-caused crisis that could kill off swathes of the essential ecosystems, scientists warned Wednesday. Since it began in early 2023, the global coral bleaching event has mushroomed into the biggest and most intense on record, with reefs across the Pacific, Indian and Atlantic oceans affected. Coral turns ghostly white under heat stress and the world's oceans have warmed over the last two years to historic highs, driven by humanity's release of planet-warming greenhouse gases. Reefs can rebound from the trauma but scientists told AFP the window for recovery was getting shorter as ocean temperatures remained higher for longer. Conditions in some regions were extreme enough to 'lead to multi-species or near complete mortality on a coral reef', said the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). This latest episode was so severe and lasting that even more resilient coral was succumbing, said Melanie McField from the Healthy Reefs for Healthy People initiative, which specialises in the Caribbean. 'If you continue to have heatwave after heatwave, it's hard to see how that recovery is going to happen,' the veteran reef scientist told AFP from Florida. Bleaching occurs when coral expels algae that provides not just their characteristic colour but food and nutrients, leaving them exposed to disease and possibly eventually death. Live coral cover has halved since the 1950s due to climate change and environmental damage, the International Coral Reef Initiative, a global conservation partnership, said in a statement Wednesday. Scientists forecast that at 1.5C of warming, some 70 to 90 percent of the world's coral reefs could disappear -- a disastrous prospect for people and the planet. Coral reefs support not just marine life but hundreds of millions of people living in coastal communities around the world by providing food, protection from storms, and livelihoods through fishing and tourism. Coral crisis Mass coral bleaching was first observed in the early 1980s and is one of the best known and most visible consequences of steadily rising ocean temperatures caused by global warming. The latest coral bleaching event is the fourth and largest yet, and the second in a decade, exceeding the record area affected during the last episode of 2014-2017. 'From 1 January 2023 to 20 April 2025, bleaching-level heat stress has impacted 83.7 percent of the world's coral reef area', NOAA said in its latest update on Monday. Oceans store 90 percent of the excess heat caused by humanity's burning of fossil fuels, causing warmer sea temperatures, which are the leading cause of coral bleaching. 'The link between fossil fuel emissions and coral mortality is direct and undeniable,' said Alex Sen Gupta, a climate scientist at the University of New South Wales in Australia. To accurately accommodate the increased risk of mass coral death due to this event, NOAA was forced to add three new levels to a widely used bleaching alert scale. 'It's the coral reef equivalent of adding Category 6 and 7 to the tropical cyclone scale,' said Sen Gupta. 'Mass mortalities' McField said in September 2023, an iconic reef off Honduras was suffering bleaching but still boasted 46 percent average living coral coverage. 'By February 2024, all of that died, and it was down to five percent living coral... We never saw that before, these mass mortalities,' McField said. The planet has already warmed at least 1.36 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial times, says the EU's climate monitor Copernicus. Scientists predict the 1.5C threshold could be crossed early in the next decade. At 2C almost all corals would disappear. If the current climate policies of all governments were implemented in full, the world could warm by up to 3.1C by 2100.
Malay Mail
23-04-2025
- Science
- Malay Mail
Coral reefs pushed to brink by heat as bleaching crisis hits 84pc globally
PARIS, April 23 — An unprecedented coral bleaching episode has spread to 84 per cent of the world's reefs in an unfolding human-caused crisis that could kill off swathes of the essential ecosystems, scientists warned today. Since it began in early 2023, the global coral bleaching event has mushroomed into the biggest and most intense on record, with reefs across the Pacific, Indian and Atlantic oceans affected. Coral turns ghostly white under heat stress and the world's oceans have warmed over the last two years to historic highs, driven by humanity's release of planet-warming greenhouse gases. Reefs can rebound from the trauma but scientists told AFP the window for recovery was getting shorter as ocean temperatures remained higher for longer. Conditions in some regions were extreme enough to "lead to multi-species or near complete mortality on a coral reef", said the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). This latest episode was so severe and lasting that even more resilient coral was succumbing, said Melanie McField from the Healthy Reefs for Healthy People initiative, which specialises in the Caribbean. "If you continue to have heatwave after heatwave, it's hard to see how that recovery is going to happen," the veteran reef scientist told AFP from Florida. Bleaching occurs when coral expels algae that provides not just their characteristic colour but food and nutrients, leaving them exposed to disease and possibly eventually death. Live coral cover has halved since the 1950s due to climate change and environmental damage, the International Coral Reef Initiative, a global conservation partnership, said in a statement today. Scientists forecast that at 1.5C of warming, some 70 to 90 per cent of the world's coral reefs could disappear — a disastrous prospect for people and the planet. Coral reefs support not just marine life but hundreds of millions of people living in coastal communities around the world by providing food, protection from storms, and livelihoods through fishing and tourism. Coral crisis Mass coral bleaching was first observed in the early 1980s and is one of the best known and most visible consequences of steadily rising ocean temperatures caused by global warming. The latest coral bleaching event is the fourth and largest yet, and the second in a decade, exceeding the record area affected during the last episode of 2014—2017. "From 1 January 2023 to 20 April 2025, bleaching-level heat stress has impacted 83.7 per cent of the world's coral reef area", NOAA said in its latest update on Monday. Oceans store 90 per cent of the excess heat caused by humanity's burning of fossil fuels, causing warmer sea temperatures, which are the leading cause of coral bleaching. "The link between fossil fuel emissions and coral mortality is direct and undeniable," said Alex Sen Gupta, a climate scientist at the University of New South Wales in Australia. To accurately accommodate the increased risk of mass coral death due to this event, NOAA was forced to add three new levels to a widely used bleaching alert scale. "It's the coral reef equivalent of adding Category 6 and 7 to the tropical cyclone scale," said Sen Gupta. Mass mortalities McField said in September 2023, an iconic reef off Honduras was suffering bleaching but still boasted 46 per cent average living coral coverage. "By February 2024, all of that died, and it was down to five per cent living coral... We never saw that before, these mass mortalities," McField said. The planet has already warmed at least 1.36 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial times, says the EU's climate monitor Copernicus. Scientists predict the 1.5C threshold could be crossed early in the next decade. At 2C almost all corals would disappear. If the current climate policies of all governments were implemented in full, the world could warm by up to 3.1C by 2100. — AFP
