The average temperature usually rises in March and then starts to fall, but this year it has remained around 21 degrees since mid-March. It is a good bit above the normal values. From 1982-2011, the average fluctuated between 20 and 20.7 degrees at the end of April, according to statistics from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
In early April, the previous record was also broken when the average temperature for the entire world rose to 21.1 degrees – 0.1 degrees higher than the previous extreme year in 2016, which was marked by an unusually strong edition of the El Niño weather phenomenon.
“Faster than the models predicted”
The April numbers have left scientists scratching their heads, says Meredith, who is scientific leader of the British polar research institute BAS.
– The rate of increase is faster than the climate models have predicted. If this continues, we will be well above the climate curve for the world’s oceans. But we don’t yet know if that will happen, he says.
The oceans have so far moderated global warming. According to Today’s news the oceans have stored around a quarter of the carbon dioxide and around 90 percent of the excess energy caused by emissions from human activities.
The forecast: New El Niño later this year
– The oceans are a clearer indicator of climate change than the global temperature rise. The warming of the oceans has a steady development, they do not have the rapid variation as the temperature over land, says Ola Kalén, oceanographer at SMHI, to Dagens Nyheter.
In addition, the weather phenomenon El Niño is now waiting around the corner after three years with the opposite La Niña. This means that warming gets an extra boost after being held back by La Niña.
– What we see is very unusual, we may be heading towards something we have never seen before, says Ola Kalén.