Along with the rest of the world, Australia’s air and sea have warmed by an average of 1.1 degree celsius since 1910.
South east Australia has experienced higher warming than the rest of the Australian coast.
With Our Own Eyes Eurobodalla asked researcher and science teacher Geoff Sharpe to explain some more from looking at the data contained in these two graphs.
” The graphs show that the atmosphere and oceans around Australia have both increased by 1.1 degree. Due to the high heat capacity of water, far more energy has been absorbed by the oceans than the atmosphere.
The oceans have acted as the major heat sink, slowing down atmospheric warming.
The world’s oceans have transported the heat of the tropics to the polar regions helping to equalize Earth’s temperatures.
Both the La Nina and El Nino events can be linked to ocean currents and temperatures.
The freezing conditions that were encountered in North America ( in the Northern Winter of 2020-2021) can be linked to a warming Arctic ocean and the breakdown of the northern hemisphere jet stream.
Besides major atmospheric influences, warming oceans also influence oceanic life.
At present the large kelp bed ecosystems on the east coast of Tasmania are being decimated by native sea urchins that have moved south with the warming waters.”
See Sea Urchin for one adverse consequence of warming seas off eastern Australia
WOOEE _ 2022
