Oceans absorbed heat enough to boil 'billions' of Olympic swimming pools in 2023: Study 

A report published on Thursday (January 11) said that in the year 2023 alone, the world's oceans absorbed an amount of excess heat so high that it was enough to "boil away billions of Olympic-sized swimming pools."

Respective estimates from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and Chinese Institute of Atmospheric Physics (IAP) say that the world's oceans absorbed around 9 to 15 zettajoules more than they did in 2022.

One zettajoule of energy roughly equals ten times the electricity generated in the whole world in a year.

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"Annually the entire globe consumes around half a zettajoule of energy to fuel our economies", according to the statement.

"Another way to think about this is 15 zettajoules is enough energy to boil away 2.3 billion Olympic-sized swimming pools."

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Seventy per cent of Earth's surface is covered by oceans which have absorbed 90 per cent of the excess heat produced by human activity and carbon pollution from human activity since the industrial age.

The study, which has been published in the journal Advances in Atmospheric Sciences, has said that temperatures at the surface of the sea and the energy stored in the upper 2000 metres of the oceanreached record highs.

Some of the heat stored in oceans contributed to making the year 2023 witness record heatwaves, droughts and wildfires.

There is a reason for this. The warmer the ocean gets, the more heat and moisture enters the atmosphere. This in turn leads to erratic weather involving strong winds and powerful rain.

Burning of fossil fuels contributes to global warming which in turn leads to warmer temperatures at the sea surface.

The weather phenomenon El Nino also resulted in a rise in sea temperatures in the southern Pacific Ocean which contributes to hotter weather globally. El Nino, which is in effect right now, is expected to peak in 2024.

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An opposite weather phenomenon La Nina helps to cool the ocean surface.

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The report also said that ocean salinity is at an all-time high. This results in a process of "stratification", which involves the separation of water in layers that no longer mix.

This seemingly harmless thing has great ramifications as it affects oxygen, carbon and heat exchange between the ocean and the atmosphere and makes the ocean lose oxygen.

(With inputs from agencies)