Ocean temperatures hit record high in February, say EU scientists

Ocean temperatures reached a record high last month with average global sea surface temperature touching 21.06 degrees Celsius (69.91 degrees Fahrenheit), said the EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) on Thursday (March 7).

The average sea surface temperature in February exceeded the previous record of 20.98 C (69.77 F), which was set in August 2023, in a dataset spanning back to 1979.

This comes during what is dubbed as the hottest February on record.

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Marine scientists issued a warning this week saying that a fourth global mass coral bleaching event will likely take place in the Southern Hemisphere, driven by warming waters, which could be the worst that the world has ever witnessed.

Under severe heat stress, corals bleach, driving out the beneficial, colourful algae that reside in their tissues, leaving behind a pale skeleton. They become susceptible to hunger and illness as a result, and many of them die.

Fragile reef ecosystems may collapse as a result, leaving coasts vulnerable to erosion, storms, and overfishing.

The scientists say that an El Nino climate pattern, which is borne out of warmer-than-normal surface waters in the Eastern Pacific, alongside human-caused climate change is the one fueling the extra heat.

"What is more surprising is that sea surface temperatures are at record levels over regions far away from the centre of the El Nino action, such as the tropical Atlantic and Indian Ocean," said climate scientist Richard Allan of the University of Reading.

He stated that this demonstrated the significant impact of increasing greenhouse gas emissions on the atmosphere.

The polar oceans are not included in the global average sea surface temperature data, however, the conditions there are dire too.

In February, Antarctic sea ice hit its yearly minimum extent, registering its third-lowest extent on record at 28 per centbelow average.

C3S said that El Nino was now weakening in the equatorial Pacific, however, air temperatures over the oceans remain at an unusually high level.

(With inputs from agencies)