The effects of global warming have long been borne mostly by the ocean. When greenhouse gas emissions rise and become locked in the earth's system, the ocean soaks up the surplus energy. As the effects of climate change become relatively more evident, the ocean has sucked up about 90 percent of the heat from growing emissions.
When climate change produces harsh heat and energy, the ocean becomes warm, resulting in oceanic heat waves, increasing the ocean's acidity. Consequently, ice melts, and sea levels rise. Ultimately, these changes permanently affect marine biodiversity, coastal communities' lives and livelihoods, and approximately 60 million global people who work in aquaculture industries.
Climate change has impacted wind patterns which have changed oceanic currents. This is crucial because when the currents that many marine species depend on are altered, their migratory patterns might also shift. Additionally, this would harm many species that rely on ocean currents for nutrients and reproduction.
Similarly, man relies heavily on ocean currents to sustain the planet's climate. For instance, the Gulf Stream, a major Atlantic circulation responsible for maintaining Europe's comparatively warm climate, is declining. Changes to these currents will significantly affect the climate globally, including altered rainfall patterns and variations in air temperature. Numerous species, including humans, are affected dramatically by these changes.
In addition, marine and coastal ecosystems can be permanently lost with rising temperatures. Most aquatic animals are increasingly migrating to destinations with higher altitudes and latitudes and with cooler water temperatures. Also, rising temperatures pose significant damage to coral reefs to coral reefs that support marine life.
Poikilothermic in nature, all aquatic creatures experience temperature-dependent fluctuations in body temperature. They are therefore extremely sensitive to changes in the outside environment's temperature. In a process that scientists call behavioral thermoregulation, these creatures migrate to a location where their internal systems allow them to reestablish their internal homeostasis when the external environmental temperature exceeds their tolerance limit.
Consequently, the UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization has noted that more than half of all marine species could go extinct by 2100. Furthermore, about 60 percent of global marine ecosystems are thought to have already undergone degradation or are being utilized in an unsustainable manner. Therefore, with the current global temperature increase of 34.7 degrees Fahrenheit, warming threatens to obliterate 70 to 90 percent of coral reefs. For context, 35.6 degrees Fahrenheit might result in the total obliteration of aquatic life.
Due to a surge in ice loss in the world's polar areas, sea level rise has quickened recently. According to the Meteorological Organization, the average annual increase in sea level from 2013 to 2021 was 0.18 inches, setting unprecedented records.
Sea-level rise has increased severe occurrences, including fatal storm surges and shoreline havoc like flooding, erosion, and landslides, which are now anticipated yearly in these regions. This is in addition to tropical cyclones getting stronger. In the past, such things happened just once every century.
According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Several locations, including the western Tropical Pacific, the South-west Pacific, the North Pacific, and the South Atlantic, face noticeably quicker sea-level rise.
