The heat wave lived in Europe In June 2023, the northern seas of the continent exceeds the historical average temperature for 16 days. Scientists warn that there is a 10% chance of a phenomenon of this magnitude every year.
“Unprecedented, but not unexpected”Thus, it describes an article collected on Tuesday in the journal Communications Earth & Environment the heat wave registered by the seas of Northern Europe in June 2023. In Spain, maximum of 42 degrees were reached on land for several days in a row.
After analysis of several climatic models, The researchers from the United Kingdom and Holland conclude that temperatures in the shallow seas surrounding the United Kingdom (including the North Sea and the Celtic Sea, south of Ireland) reached 2.9 degrees Celsius above the average of June for 16 days. The data is not precedent since there are records.
Scientists confirm that this navy end significantly altered the flowering of phytoplankton.
“Although the total impact on marine ecosystems has not yet been evaluated, these heat waves stress marine species and increase bacteria concentrations that can be harmful to human beings,” One of the authors, Jamie Atkins, who directed the studio during his doctorate at the University of Exeter and now works on Utrecht (Holland).
Previous investigations had already pointed out that the marine heat wave of June 2023 also contributed to record temperatures and an increase in rainfall in the British islands.
“These increasingly warm seas are a source of heat off the coast, which contributes to land temperatures being higher. In addition, this warm air transports more moisture and, when it cools, it causes an increase in rainfall,” says Atkins.
The researchers combined several climatic models to evaluate the probability of heat waves at the level of June 2023 or higher in two points, the Celtic Sea and the central area of the North Sea.
In the Celtic Sea, in front of the southern coast of Ireland, the annual probability of a heat wave of this type has gone from 3.8 % in 1993 to 13.8 % today.
In the center of the North Sea: from 0.7 % in 1993 to 9.8 % today.
“The marine heat wave, unprecedented, of June 2023 made this phenomenon marked public consciousness. However, by the scenarios of climate change impacts that have long been handling science, these events should not be unexpected,” ATKINS highlights in a statement.
“We are facing another example of how the sustained impact of climate change is causing an exponential increase in extreme meteorological phenomena,” Another of the authors, the researcher Adam Scaife, from the University of Exeter.
Researchers suggest that there is deeper to study the effects of sea heat waves on the seas of the continental platform of northwest Europe, among others.