SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
"We thought that we got away with not a lot of warming in both the ocean and the atmosphere for the amount of CO2 that we emitted. But we were wrong," Laure Resplandy, a geoscientist at Princeton University who led the new study, told the Washington Post. (Photo: Timo Newton-Syms/Flickr/cc)
'We Have Less Time Than We Thought': Alarming New Study Shows Oceans Have Retained Far More Heat Than Previously Believed
"The planet warmed more than we thought. It was hidden from us just because we didn't sample it right. But it was there. It was in the ocean already."
Oct 31, 2018
Offering a stark warning that humanity may have even less time to drastically cut carbon emissions than the United Nations suggested in its latest alarming report on the climate crisis, new research (pdf) published in the journal Nature on Wednesday shows that Earth's oceans have retained 60 percent more heat each year over the past 25 years than scientists previously believed.
"This global crisis demands nothing less than swift and meaningful action by every world leader to ensure a safe and healthy future for all."
--Michael Brune, Sierra Club"We thought that we got away with not a lot of warming in both the ocean and the atmosphere for the amount of CO2 that we emitted. But we were wrong," Laure Resplandy, a geoscientist at Princeton University who led the new study, told the Washington Post. "The planet warmed more than we thought. It was hidden from us just because we didn't sample it right. But it was there. It was in the ocean already."
The U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change argued in its report released earlier this month that humanity must cut carbon emissions in half by 2030 in order to avert climate catastrophe by 2040--but that timeframe was based on previous and possibly conservative estimates of global warming.
As the Post's Chris Mooney and Brady Dennis noted, "higher-than-expected amount of heat in the oceans means more heat is being retained within Earth's climate system each year, rather than escaping into space."
"In essence," they added, "more heat in the oceans signals that global warming is more advanced than scientists thought."
In a statement on Wednesday, Sierra Club executive director Michael Brune argued that the new research "confirms that we have even less time to move beyond dirty fossil fuels like coal, oil, and fracked gas to an economy powered by 100 percent clean, renewable energy."
"The world's oceans are the canaries in the coal mine when it comes to the climate crisis. The writing has been on the wall for years," Brune said. "This global crisis demands nothing less than swift and meaningful action by every world leader to ensure a safe and healthy future for all. The Trump administration's continued ignorance and lack of action is wholly unacceptable, and together with our allies across the country, we will work toward a brighter, healthier, and safer future for all."
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Offering a stark warning that humanity may have even less time to drastically cut carbon emissions than the United Nations suggested in its latest alarming report on the climate crisis, new research (pdf) published in the journal Nature on Wednesday shows that Earth's oceans have retained 60 percent more heat each year over the past 25 years than scientists previously believed.
"This global crisis demands nothing less than swift and meaningful action by every world leader to ensure a safe and healthy future for all."
--Michael Brune, Sierra Club"We thought that we got away with not a lot of warming in both the ocean and the atmosphere for the amount of CO2 that we emitted. But we were wrong," Laure Resplandy, a geoscientist at Princeton University who led the new study, told the Washington Post. "The planet warmed more than we thought. It was hidden from us just because we didn't sample it right. But it was there. It was in the ocean already."
The U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change argued in its report released earlier this month that humanity must cut carbon emissions in half by 2030 in order to avert climate catastrophe by 2040--but that timeframe was based on previous and possibly conservative estimates of global warming.
As the Post's Chris Mooney and Brady Dennis noted, "higher-than-expected amount of heat in the oceans means more heat is being retained within Earth's climate system each year, rather than escaping into space."
"In essence," they added, "more heat in the oceans signals that global warming is more advanced than scientists thought."
In a statement on Wednesday, Sierra Club executive director Michael Brune argued that the new research "confirms that we have even less time to move beyond dirty fossil fuels like coal, oil, and fracked gas to an economy powered by 100 percent clean, renewable energy."
"The world's oceans are the canaries in the coal mine when it comes to the climate crisis. The writing has been on the wall for years," Brune said. "This global crisis demands nothing less than swift and meaningful action by every world leader to ensure a safe and healthy future for all. The Trump administration's continued ignorance and lack of action is wholly unacceptable, and together with our allies across the country, we will work toward a brighter, healthier, and safer future for all."
Offering a stark warning that humanity may have even less time to drastically cut carbon emissions than the United Nations suggested in its latest alarming report on the climate crisis, new research (pdf) published in the journal Nature on Wednesday shows that Earth's oceans have retained 60 percent more heat each year over the past 25 years than scientists previously believed.
"This global crisis demands nothing less than swift and meaningful action by every world leader to ensure a safe and healthy future for all."
--Michael Brune, Sierra Club"We thought that we got away with not a lot of warming in both the ocean and the atmosphere for the amount of CO2 that we emitted. But we were wrong," Laure Resplandy, a geoscientist at Princeton University who led the new study, told the Washington Post. "The planet warmed more than we thought. It was hidden from us just because we didn't sample it right. But it was there. It was in the ocean already."
The U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change argued in its report released earlier this month that humanity must cut carbon emissions in half by 2030 in order to avert climate catastrophe by 2040--but that timeframe was based on previous and possibly conservative estimates of global warming.
As the Post's Chris Mooney and Brady Dennis noted, "higher-than-expected amount of heat in the oceans means more heat is being retained within Earth's climate system each year, rather than escaping into space."
"In essence," they added, "more heat in the oceans signals that global warming is more advanced than scientists thought."
In a statement on Wednesday, Sierra Club executive director Michael Brune argued that the new research "confirms that we have even less time to move beyond dirty fossil fuels like coal, oil, and fracked gas to an economy powered by 100 percent clean, renewable energy."
"The world's oceans are the canaries in the coal mine when it comes to the climate crisis. The writing has been on the wall for years," Brune said. "This global crisis demands nothing less than swift and meaningful action by every world leader to ensure a safe and healthy future for all. The Trump administration's continued ignorance and lack of action is wholly unacceptable, and together with our allies across the country, we will work toward a brighter, healthier, and safer future for all."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.