Latest news 26 May 2010
The world’s oceans have undergone a significant amount of warming in the last 17 years, scientists have said.
A new report from the Joint Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research, published in the journal Nature, found that oceans now retain more heat than they emit.
Experts analysing nine different areas of ocean discovered that there were disparities in heat between 1993 and 2008.
Josh Willis, an oceanographer at the NASA Jet Propulsion who was part of the research team, explained to the Met Office: “The ocean is the biggest reservoir for heat in the climate system, so as the planet warms, we’re finding that 80 to 90 per cent of the increased heat ends up in the ocean.”
The scientists have warned that the new study suggests that the possibility of climate change is becoming more likely.
Sea level rises are directly linked to warming oceans, they added, because heat expands seawater and makes it take up more space.
Posted by Emily Thomas
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