2019 Was a Record Year for Ocean Temperatures, Data Show

Last year was the warmest year on record for the world’s oceans, part of a long-term warming trend, according to a study released Monday. 

Bleached coral in the south Pacific in May.
Rising temperatures contribute to the bleaching.

“If you look at the ocean heat content, 2019 is by far the hottest, 2018 is second, 2017 is third, 2015 is fourth, and then 2016 is fifth,” said Kevin E. Trenberth, a senior scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research and an author on the study

The study, published in the journal Advances in Atmospheric Sciences, follows an announcement last week by European scientists that Earth’s surface temperatures in 2019 were the second-hottest on record. 

Since the middle of last century, the oceans have absorbed roughly 93 percent of the excess heat caused by greenhouse gases from human activities such as burning coal for electricity. That has shielded the land from some of the worst effects of rising emissions.

Read the story from The New York Times by Kendra Pierre-Louis - “2019 Was a Record Year for Ocean Temperatures, Data Show.”

Australia just experienced its third hottest year; figures point to troubling trend

Australia sweated through its third-warmest year on record in 2018, as disturbing Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) figures point to a trend of soaring temperatures and diminishing rainfall.

Climate experts say the rising temperatures are the 'new normal'

Every state and territory recorded above average temperatures last year, eclipsing the sweltering conditions of 2017, our previous third hottest year.

The nation’s average temperature in 20-18 was 1.14C above the average for 1961-1990, the BoM said in its annual climate statement.

“When we look across all of Australia in 2018, we can see that every single state and territory had above average day and night-time temperatures,” BoM senior climatologist Lynette Bettio said in a statement Thursday.

Read the story from The New Daily - “Australia just experienced its third hottest year; figures point to troubling trend.”

Last year was one of Earth's hottest years on record and I can't believe I'm writing this story again

It's unanimous: 2017 was one of Earth's warmest years on record, continuing an impressive and quickening trend seen since the dawn of the industrial revolution. 

It's unanimous - 2017 was Earth's warmest year on record.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NASA, the UK Met Office, and other groups that monitor the planet's thermostat, 2017 was by far the warmest year to occur without an El Niño event, which can boost ocean and air temperatures and was partly responsible for propelling 2016 to the top spot on the list of warmest years. 

While each group differs slightly in their final numbers and rankings, the numbers they came up with differ mainly because of the way they calculate temperatures in data-poor regions, such as the rapidly warming Arctic.

Read the Mashable Australia story by Andrew Freedman - ”Last year was one of Earth's hottest years on record and I can't believe I'm writing this story again.”