The ocean is heating up more rapidly than experts previously realized. As the planet has accumulated as much heat in the past 15 years as it did in the previous 45 years, the majority of the excess heat has been absorbed by the oceans. Researchers found that off the east coast of North America the water’s surface was 13.8°C, or 14.8°F, hotter than the average temperature between 1981 and 2011. Hotter oceans could lead to further glacial melting—weakening ocean currents that carry warm water across the globe and support the global food chain—as well as intensified hurricanes and tropical storms, ocean acidification, and rising sea levels due to thermal expansion.
www.commondreams.org/news/ocean-warming-study