Part 2: Ocean Heat, Global Temperature and Carbon Dioxide CO2
Human activity produces CO2, a greenhouse gas that causes global temperature to raise. Along with atmosphere’s heating, also oceans get warmer due to greenhouses gas that traps the heat. These three data are connected in an endless cycle of heating.
Ocean Heat
The ocean reached its warmest during the last 10 years, particularly in 2020 with its temperature record and the global sea level at its highest [1]. This happened because 90% of global heating occurs in the ocean waters and because water expands as soon as it gets warmer, absorbing heat. Greenhouse gases are the main reason of the heat increase in waters, which also causes coral bleaching and devastation of the ocean’s health.
Global Temperature
Since 2000, nineteen of the warmest years ever have occurred [2]. The year 2020 reached a record warmth with the highest level of temperature anomaly. The surface temperature increased of 1.02° Celsius than the average temperature from 1950-1980, making 2020 the warmest year on the Earth. It is important to acknowledge that global warming now is increasing ten time faster than during the post Ice Age recovery warming.
Carbon Dioxide CO2
CO2 is a greenhouse gas released by human activity [3] both natural, as respiration, and artificial, such as deforestation and fossil fuel burning. Carbon Dioxide in Earth’s atmosphere has increased 48% above the preindustrial era [4], in only 171 years. Its increasing level is the main cause of global warming.
Continue to read part 3
Source references:
[1] https://climate.nasa.gov/vital-signs/ocean-heat/
[2] https://climate.nasa.gov/vital-signs/global-temperature/
