- [MEDIA ADVISORY – TOULOUSE, 10 January 2024] – A new study co-authored by Dr. Karina von Schuckmann, senior advisor in Ocean Science for Policy at the Scientific Direction of Mercator Ocean International, France, has been published today in Advances in Atmospheric Sciences. It reveals that ocean warming in 2024 has resulted in new record high temperatures. The ocean is the hottest it has ever been recorded by humans, not only at the surface temperature but also for the upper 2000 meters.
Data updated from Cheng et al.
The study, led by Prof. Dr. Lijing Cheng from the Institute of Atmospheric Physics and the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China, involves a team of 54 scientists from 7 countries and examines how a warmer ocean impacts our lives on land and what it signifies for our future.
“The ocean serves as our planet’s sentinel for global warming, functioning as the primary reservoir for excess heat accumulating in Earth’s climate system due to human-induced emissions” said Dr. Karina von Schuckmann, who warns that without decisive action to mitigate climate change and urgent adaptation measures, we face escalating disruptions, unprecedented environmental shifts, and increasing economic and human costs.
According to the study, heating in the ocean has continued in 2024 in response to increased greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere, despite the transition from an El Niño to neutral conditions: this means that the global sea surface temperature is a new record for the instrumentation era, and the ocean heat content of global upper 2000 m is the highest ever recorded by modern instruments, particularly in the Indian Ocean, Tropical Atlantic, Mediterranean Sea, North Atlantic, North Pacific, and Southern Ocean.
These record-high values of 2024 sea surface temperatures and Ocean heat content continue to indicate unabated trends of global heating. Over the past 12 months, 138 countries have recorded their hottest temperatures ever. Droughts, heat waves, floods, and wildfires have impacted Africa, Southern Asia, the Philippines, Brazil, Europe, the USA, Chile, and the Great Barrier Reef, as a few examples.
About Dr. Karina von Schuckmann : Dr. Karina von Schuckmann is a senior advisor in Ocean Science for Policy at the scientific direction of Mercator Ocean International. A leading expert in Earth’s heat inventory, she has been a key contributor to Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports and is the director of the European reference Copernicus Ocean State Report. Member of the European Academy of Science, she was awarded the 2023 climate prize by the French Academy of Science for her groundbreaking research on climate change.
About Dr. Karina von Schuckmann : Dr. Karina von Schuckmann is senior advisor in Ocean Science for Policy at the scientific direction of Mercator Ocean International. A leading expert in Earth’s heat inventory, she has been a key contributor to Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports and is the director of the European reference Copernicus Ocean State Report. Member of the European Academy of Science, she was awarded the 2023 climate prize by the French Academy of Science for her groundbreaking research on climate change.
Media Inquiries : Dr. Karina von Schuckmann is available for interviews and comments (French, English) on this study. To schedule an interview or obtain more information, please contact us : press@mercator-ocean.fr – +33 6 76 86 85 15
About Mercator Ocean International : Mercator Ocean International is a global leader in ocean modeling and services, delivering cutting-edge operational ocean forecasts to support sustainable ocean management and climate change mitigation. Currently transitioning into an intergovernmental organization, Mercator Ocean International is a non-profit entity jointly owned by ten major institutions in operational oceanography: CNR, CNRS, Ifremer, IRD, Météo-France, SHOM, CMCC, MetOffice, NERSC, and Puertos del Estado. Led by Director General Pierre Bahurel, Mercator Ocean International operates from its headquarters in Toulouse, France, with a team of over 100 dedicated experts.
To read the full version of the article : Advances in Atmospheric Science.