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Atlantic Ocean is unusually warm right now. Scientists say that’s “deeply troubling"
This chart of ocean temperatures should really scare you
The Atlantic Ocean is unusually warm right now. Here’s why scientists say that’s “deeply troubling.”
By Benji Jones@BenjiSJones Feb 28, 2024, 3:40pm EST
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Map shows higher than normal temperatures in most of the North Atlantic.
Change in sea surface temperatures in the North Atlantic Ocean relative to a historic baseline. Darker orange corresponds to areas that are abnormally warm, whereas blue indicates a region is abnormally cool. Climate Change Institute/University of Maine/NOAA
Benji Jones is a senior environmental reporter at Vox, covering biodiversity loss and climate change. Before joining Vox, he was a senior energy reporter at Insider. Benji previously worked as a wildlife researcher.
If you were to dip your toes into the middle of the North Atlantic — say, somewhere between South Carolina and Spain — the water would feel frigid. You definitely wouldn’t want to swim. It’s winter.
Yet that water would, in fact, be very warm, relatively speaking. Right now, the North Atlantic ocean is, on average, warmer than any other time on record, running about 2 degrees Fahrenheit hotter than the average temperature over the last three decades.
To understand just how unusual this is, take a look at the chart below. The wave of squiggly lines represents the sea surface temperature, averaged across the North Atlantic, from 1981 to now; each squiggle is a different year.
Chart shows 2024’s temperatures as significantly higher than previous years and 2024’s temperatures so far significantly higher than 2023.
The thick orangey-red line that runs the length of the chart and hovers above nearly all the others is from 2023. The North Atlantic started breaking heat temperature records in March of last year.
Even more alarming is the departure that the new, shorter line from 2024 represents. It’s far above the rest, indicating this extreme, anomalous increase has continued into this year.
What questions do you have for our climate team?
Let us know by filling out this form.
“It’s significantly warmer than it ever has been for this time of year,” Brian McNoldy, a climate researcher at the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School, told Vox. “This is deeply troubling,” he recently wrote on X.
All this heat is not only a problem for marine ecosystems today, scientists say. It’s also a warning of what could come — including what could put human life in harm’s way.
This chart of ocean temperatures should really scare you
The Atlantic Ocean is unusually warm right now. Here’s why scientists say that’s “deeply troubling.”
By Benji Jones@BenjiSJones Feb 28, 2024, 3:40pm EST
Map shows higher than normal temperatures in most of the North Atlantic.
Change in sea surface temperatures in the North Atlantic Ocean relative to a historic baseline. Darker orange corresponds to areas that are abnormally warm, whereas blue indicates a region is abnormally cool. Climate Change Institute/University of Maine/NOAA
Benji Jones is a senior environmental reporter at Vox, covering biodiversity loss and climate change. Before joining Vox, he was a senior energy reporter at Insider. Benji previously worked as a wildlife researcher.
If you were to dip your toes into the middle of the North Atlantic — say, somewhere between South Carolina and Spain — the water would feel frigid. You definitely wouldn’t want to swim. It’s winter.
Yet that water would, in fact, be very warm, relatively speaking. Right now, the North Atlantic ocean is, on average, warmer than any other time on record, running about 2 degrees Fahrenheit hotter than the average temperature over the last three decades.
To understand just how unusual this is, take a look at the chart below. The wave of squiggly lines represents the sea surface temperature, averaged across the North Atlantic, from 1981 to now; each squiggle is a different year.
Chart shows 2024’s temperatures as significantly higher than previous years and 2024’s temperatures so far significantly higher than 2023.
The thick orangey-red line that runs the length of the chart and hovers above nearly all the others is from 2023. The North Atlantic started breaking heat temperature records in March of last year.
Even more alarming is the departure that the new, shorter line from 2024 represents. It’s far above the rest, indicating this extreme, anomalous increase has continued into this year.
What questions do you have for our climate team?
Let us know by filling out this form.
“It’s significantly warmer than it ever has been for this time of year,” Brian McNoldy, a climate researcher at the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School, told Vox. “This is deeply troubling,” he recently wrote on X.
All this heat is not only a problem for marine ecosystems today, scientists say. It’s also a warning of what could come — including what could put human life in harm’s way.
