Alarming ocean temperatures helped make 2023 the hottest year

Last year was Earth’s hottest on record by a significant margin and possibly the world's warmest in the last 100,000 years, the European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service said earlier this week. The study, led by an international team of scientists from China, the United States, New Zealand, Italy, and France, aimed to highlight the concerning trends in global warming, specifically those related to ocean temperatures. The study, published in the journal Advances in Atmospheric Sciences, further added that in 2023, sea surface temperature and the energy stored in the upper 2000 metres of the ocean both reached record highs. According to AFP, the amount of energy stored in the oceans is a crucial indicator of global warming because it is less affected by natural differences in climate than sea surface temperature. The study showed that the massive amounts of energy stored in the ocean helped make 2023, the hottest year on record with severe heatwaves, droughts and wildfires.