This week the World Meteorological Organization, the WMO, released a worrying statement: its technicians warned that – unfortunately – the trend of breaking temperature records that took a good part of 2023 continues in 2024.
According to the WMO, last January was the warmest ever recorded and the eighth consecutive month to be the warmest on record, at least for this time of year.
Additionally, sea surface temperatures have reached record levels for ten consecutive months.
Argentina, heat wave aside, also had its own manifestation of this phenomenon: this was found by the team of scientists from the Physical Oceanography Office that operates at the National Institute of Fisheries Research and Development (Inidep), which reported the water temperature in the surface of the sea in Mar del Plata last January.
The data, obtained with an SBE38 thermometer installed at the SHN EOC Coastal Observation station, verified that the sea surface temperature in Mar del Plata during January 2024 increased from 18.0 °C (recorded on day 1) to a maximum of 24.7 °C on the 29th similar to the sea average in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Until January 16, the temperature oscillated around the monthly average value (~ 21.8 °C); and as of the 17th it remained above the threshold that determines the highest values recorded in the EOC series during the period 2013-2024.
This was possible in part due to the predominant winds with a component from the northern sector, the high air temperatures on the earth’s surface, with maximum temperatures above 30 °C on most days since January 22 due to the wave of heat that fell over a good part of the country. And to that was added the scarce presence of clouds.
The decrease recorded on January 30 could be due to the upwelling of colder waters from the seabed to the surface, caused by the persistent action of winds from the NE sector, which could transport surface water away from the coast.
After comparing the main monthly statistical data with those calculated from the complete record and the archived records from 2013 to today, the scientists verified that, during the month of January, the sea in Mar de Plata recorded the absolute monthly maximum of the series of the last decade, clearly in line with global warming.
Al gets up
◆ Between 2011 and 2020, the pace of climate change increased alarmingly, according to the WMO.
◆ In that decade the Antarctic ice sheet lost almost 75% more ice than between 2001 and 2011.
◆ In those years there was also an increase in the average sea level.
◆ The only positive news is that the ozone layer is on the way to recovery after the measures taken to stop using industrial gases that destroyed this molecule.