(Finance) – The price is still risingocean fever‘. In 2023 the temperatures have increased, recording a new record in water warming, with an increase of content thermalfrom the stratification and of salinity. This is what emerges from the New Record Ocean temperatures and related climate indicators in 2023 study, published in the journal Advances in Atmospheric Science and led by an international team, coordinated by IAP-CAS (Institute of Atmospheric Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences) and composed of US scientists from NCEI-NOAA (National Centers for Environmental Information of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), New Zealanders, French and, for Italy, by Simona Simoncelli of the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV) and Franco Reseghetti of the National Agency for new technologies, energy and sustainable economic development (AENEAS).
In 2023, the temperature of waters oceanicwhich cover 70% of the planet and absorb approximately 90% of the heat caused by global warming, increased by a value between 8 (according to NOAA calculation) and 15 (IAP-CAS calculation) ZettaJoule compared to 2022 in the layer between 0 and 2000 meters of depth: to give you an idea, 1 ZettaJoule is equivalent to double the amount of energy that powers the world economy every year. The different results seem to be mainly attributable to the different data quality control procedures and calculation methodologies.
In addition to heating general water, very strong anomalies were also found in the surface temperatures of the ocean, with unexpected values attributable in this case, in addition to global warming, also to the short-term thermal fluctuations of thePacific Ocean due to the transition of phenomena La Nina And El Niñostarting from May 2023.
The waters overall warmer temperatures produced by the combination of these factors can modify the meteorological trend at a global level. In particular, the variation of rainfall atmospheric and theevaporation of surface water alters the salinity of the ocean, so salty areas continue to become saltier and areas with fresher water continue to decrease in salinity, with direct consequences on marine life, ocean currents and interactions with ‘atmosphere.
Less dense, warmer and less salty waters tend to remain at the surface and are unable to transport heat, carbon dioxide and oxygen to deeper waters, with serious consequences for animal and plant life in the ocean. In this case we are talking about waters “stratified”: according to the study just published, in the last year the stratification has also increased further compared to 2022. Due to warmer ocean waters, heat And humidity in excess they enter the atmosphere due to the evaporation of surface water, making storms more violent, with stronger rains and winds and, therefore, with a greater risk of flooding, even on Italian territory. In this global scenario, the Mediterranean Sea in 2023 it was confirmed as the basin that warms the fastest among those analyzed in the study, reaching the highest thermal value since the beginning of modern recordings.
“In 2023, INGV and ENEA continued, as part of the MACMAP project financed by INGV, to collect temperature data of the Mediterranean waters on a seasonal basis, in particular of the Ligurian and Tyrrhenian Seas along the Genoa-Palermo route, thanks to the collaboration with the shipping company Grandi Navi Veloci (GNV)”, he explains Simona Simoncelli, INGV researcher and co-author of the study. “The analysis of these temperature data, as well as those collected at 400 meters deep by the CNR-ISMAR buoy in the Sicily Channel, indicates a clear warming in the water layer between 150 and 450 meters below sea level since 2013. depth, which then extended to deeper (up to 700 meters) and more northern waters. In this case between 2013 and 2016 the warming was above 0.4 °C, followed by a slight decrease and a stationary period. The water temperature has started to increase again since 2021, reaching its record, for the moment, in September 2023″.
“Continuing to systematically monitor the seas, specifically the Mediterranean Sea, by measuring the values of some parameters such as temperature, salinity, PH and oxygen, remains the only way to consolidate knowledge on the subject and improve the reliability of the forecasts that at the at the moment they are not as accurate as necessary and desired, even if there is a clear trend of increasing temperatures”, he adds Frank ReseghettiENEA researcher and co-author of the study.
“The Mediterranean it strongly influences life in the countries bordering it: from agriculture, to fishing, to hydrology, to weather evolution, to the health of populations. Continuing to monitor it is the key to contributing to understanding the effects of global warming and raising society’s awareness of it emergency and stimulate the adoption of necessary measures Of adaptation And mitigation. We must always keep in mind that due to this phenomenon enormous material damage is recorded every year all over the world, often accompanied by the loss of human lives”, conclude the researchers.