‘Fast running out of time to turn the tide': Australia at sea in vast marine heatwave
A marine heatwave causing extreme heat and rainfall has enveloped Australia and stretched for 40 million square kilometres across the south-west Pacific, bringing intense heat, extreme rainfall and sea-level rises.
The World Meteorological Organisation has confirmed 2024 was the hottest year on record in the south-west Pacific, which spans more than 10 per cent of the global ocean surface area. Sea surface temperatures were the highest on record and ocean heat content was at near-record levels in 2024.
The State of the Climate in the South-West Pacific 2024 report outlined deadly impacts, including a record-breaking streak of tropical cyclones that hit the Philippines, existential threats to a tropical glacier in Indonesia's New Guinea. Marine heatwaves in the south-west Pacific extended for nearly 40 million square kilometres, over 10 per cent of the global ocean surface area.
Across the region, the average temperature was almost half a degree warmer than the 1991–2020 average. Ocean warming and accelerated loss of ice mass from the ice sheets contributed to the rise of the global mean sea level by 4.7 millimetres per year between 2015 and 2024, reaching a new record observed high in 2024, the organisation's report found.
'Sea-level rise is an existential threat to entire island nations,' the secretary-general of the World Meteorological Organsiation, Celeste Saulo, said. 'It is increasingly evident that we are fast running out of time to turn the tide.'
It is estimated that each year, at least 50,000 Pacific islanders face the risk of displacement due to the adverse effects of climate change.
The waters around Australia have had a prolonged marine heatwave, not just in the Pacific but also the Indian and Southern oceans.
Associate Professor Alex Sen Gupta, from the University of New South Wales Climate Change Research Centre, said that not only were marine temperatures around Australia at a record last year, there was a massive jump in heat from the previous record set the year prior.
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The Age
a day ago
- The Age
‘Fast running out of time to turn the tide': Australia at sea in vast marine heatwave
A marine heatwave causing extreme heat and rainfall has enveloped Australia and stretched for 40 million square kilometres across the south-west Pacific, bringing intense heat, extreme rainfall and sea-level rises. The World Meteorological Organisation has confirmed 2024 was the hottest year on record in the south-west Pacific, which spans more than 10 per cent of the global ocean surface area. Sea surface temperatures were the highest on record and ocean heat content was at near-record levels in 2024. The State of the Climate in the South-West Pacific 2024 report outlined deadly impacts, including a record-breaking streak of tropical cyclones that hit the Philippines, existential threats to a tropical glacier in Indonesia's New Guinea. Marine heatwaves in the south-west Pacific extended for nearly 40 million square kilometres, over 10 per cent of the global ocean surface area. Across the region, the average temperature was almost half a degree warmer than the 1991–2020 average. Ocean warming and accelerated loss of ice mass from the ice sheets contributed to the rise of the global mean sea level by 4.7 millimetres per year between 2015 and 2024, reaching a new record observed high in 2024, the organisation's report found. 'Sea-level rise is an existential threat to entire island nations,' the secretary-general of the World Meteorological Organsiation, Celeste Saulo, said. 'It is increasingly evident that we are fast running out of time to turn the tide.' It is estimated that each year, at least 50,000 Pacific islanders face the risk of displacement due to the adverse effects of climate change. The waters around Australia have had a prolonged marine heatwave, not just in the Pacific but also the Indian and Southern oceans. Associate Professor Alex Sen Gupta, from the University of New South Wales Climate Change Research Centre, said that not only were marine temperatures around Australia at a record last year, there was a massive jump in heat from the previous record set the year prior.
Sydney Morning Herald
a day ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
‘Fast running out of time to turn the tide': Australia at sea in vast marine heatwave
A marine heatwave causing extreme heat and rainfall has enveloped Australia and stretched for 40 million square kilometres across the south-west Pacific, bringing intense heat, extreme rainfall and sea-level rises. The World Meteorological Organisation has confirmed 2024 was the hottest year on record in the south-west Pacific, which spans more than 10 per cent of the global ocean surface area. Sea surface temperatures were the highest on record and ocean heat content was at near-record levels in 2024. The State of the Climate in the South-West Pacific 2024 report outlined deadly impacts, including a record-breaking streak of tropical cyclones that hit the Philippines, existential threats to a tropical glacier in Indonesia's New Guinea. Marine heatwaves in the south-west Pacific extended for nearly 40 million square kilometres, over 10 per cent of the global ocean surface area. Across the region, the average temperature was almost half a degree warmer than the 1991–2020 average. Ocean warming and accelerated loss of ice mass from the ice sheets contributed to the rise of the global mean sea level by 4.7 millimetres per year between 2015 and 2024, reaching a new record observed high in 2024, the organisation's report found. 'Sea-level rise is an existential threat to entire island nations,' the secretary-general of the World Meteorological Organsiation, Celeste Saulo, said. 'It is increasingly evident that we are fast running out of time to turn the tide.' It is estimated that each year, at least 50,000 Pacific islanders face the risk of displacement due to the adverse effects of climate change. The waters around Australia have had a prolonged marine heatwave, not just in the Pacific but also the Indian and Southern oceans. Associate Professor Alex Sen Gupta, from the University of New South Wales Climate Change Research Centre, said that not only were marine temperatures around Australia at a record last year, there was a massive jump in heat from the previous record set the year prior.
Perth Now
2 days ago
- Perth Now
Unprecedented marine heat in the ocean around Australia
Unprecedented heat waves in the Southwest Pacific affected more than 10 per cent of the global ocean surface in 2024, damaging coral reefs and putting the region's last remaining tropical glacier at risk of extinction, the UN's weather body reported. Average 2024 temperatures in the region - which covers Australia and New Zealand as well as southeast Asian countries like Indonesia and the Philippines - were nearly half a degree Celsius higher than the 1991-2020 mean, the World Meteorological Organisation said in an annual report. "Much of the region saw at least severe marine heat wave conditions at some point during the course of 2024, particularly in areas near and south of the equator," said Blair Trewin, one of the report's authors. Extreme heat over the year affected 40 million square kilometres of ocean, and new temperature highs were set in the Philippines and Australia, the report said. Ocean surface temperatures also broke records, while total ocean heat content was the second-highest annual average, behind 2022. An unprecedented number of cyclones, which experts have attributed to climate change, caused havoc in the Philippines in October and November. Sea levels continue to rise more quickly than the global average, an urgent problem in a region where more than half the population live within 500 metres of the coast, the report added. The report also cited satellite data showing that the region's sole tropical glacier, located in Indonesia on the western part of the island of New Guinea, shrank by up to 50 per cent last year. "Unfortunately, if this rate of loss continues, this glacier could be gone by 2026 or shortly thereafter," said Thea Turkington, another of the report's authors.
