Systematic warming pool discovered in the Pacific Ocean due to human activity

In a study just published in the journal Communication Earth and Environmentconfirms Dr. Armineh Barkhordarian that this systematic warming pool is not the result of natural climatic variations, but of human influences.

“This warming pool will continue to raise water temperatures in the future, increasing both the frequency and intensity of local heat waves at sea. The sharp rise in average water temperatures is pushing ecosystems to their limits,” explains Barkhordarian, an expert on the field. from atmospheric science and member of Universität Hamburg’s Cluster of Excellence “Climate, Climatic Change, and Society” (CLICCS).

Barkhordarian and her team show how the prolonged warming pool has promoted local heat waves at sea in the past. One of these phenomena came to be known as the deadly “Pacific Ocean Blob,” which had devastating effects between 2014 and 2015: marine productivity faltered, toxic algal blooms formed and seabirds and marine mammals died en masse. In addition, the event resulted in: severe drought on the west coast of the US.

The most recent heat wave at sea lasted for three years, from 2019 to 2021, producing water temperatures to six degrees Celsius above average. Barkhordarian’s team has now proven that increased anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions were directly responsible for the extreme event. The chance of such a heat wave arising without human influence is less than one percent; there is a 99 percent chance that increased greenhouse gas emissions were also required.

In addition, the study finds that the water temperature above the warming pool in the northeast Pacific Ocean has increased by an average of 0.05 degrees Celsius per year over the past 25 years. Overall, the region cooled less in winter and summer lasted an average of 37 days longer. As a result, there have been 31 marine heat waves in this region alone in the past 20 years, compared to just nine between 1982 and 1999.

“More frequent and extreme heat waves at sea are a serious burden on degraded ecosystems. Not only does this pose a huge threat to biodiversity, it can marine ecosystems past a tipping point, after which they can’t recover,” says Barkhordarian. pre workout pool will now provide us with crucial information about the likelihood of such extreme events in the future.”