Australia records warmest sea surface temperature ever

Australia recorded its warmest-ever sea floor temperatures on document final yr.

The Bureau of Meteorology stated the 0.80 diploma improve was “remarkably” felt round virtually the complete nation throughout the entire yr, and was brought on by a number of drivers together with local weather change and La Niña.

“There weren’t just a few ‘spike’ months that bolstered the overall average,” the bureau stated in its annual local weather report launched this week.

Australian area sea surf temperature deciles: annual 2022. (Bureau of Meteorology)

Surf rolls in to Bondi Beach, in Sydney's eastern suburbs. — Australia recorded its warmest ever sea floor temperatures on document final yr. (Edwina Pickles)

“They were the highest on record across areas as geographically diverse and far apart as the waters off southwest Tasmania, to the Arafura (between the Northern Territory and Papua New Guinea) and Coral Seas (off the Queensland coast).

Warmer water was also likely pushed toward the Pacific and Indian Oceans surrounding Australia by La Niña and the negative Indian Ocean Dipole, the report said.

Though warmer waters may be pleasant for swimmers, it can have a devastating effect on marine life and other wildlife that rely on consistent temperatures to survive.

According to meteorologists at Weatherzone, sea surface temperatures soared throughout the whole year, not just a “few spike months”. (Brook Mitchell)

“These heat waters round Australia even have an affect on our local weather as they act as a supply of moisture by means of evaporation, growing humidity, cloudiness, and the prospect of rainfall,” the bureau said.

The annual average sea surface temperature difference is worked out based on a long-term median trend recorded between 1961 and 1990.