Planet in hot water—literally

OMFG.

In data released August 20 by the US National Climatic Data Center, the worldwide average for water temperature in July was…

(drum roll please)

…62.6 whopping degrees.

So pardon the expletive, for these findings represent the hottest month for ocean temperature in a century. It is even hotter than the average for the whole Twentieth Century. In comparison, the temperature in 1909 was just 59.3 degrees.

This bodes lots of things, other than giving natural Jacuzzis to inhabitants of cold countries. Warm ocean is a surefire portent of global warming.

I don’t know what to make of deniers of climate change at this late a point. More than searing temperatures inland, the warming of oceans is a foolproof symptom of a planet in heat. As scientists would put it, water requires manifold more energy to heat up than land. Worse, warmth doesn’t leave water for a loooong time.

Already, the warming oceans have caused coral reefs to undergo fatal bleaching. Of course, that would throw the biosphere’s food web, humans included, into anarchy. Usually, bleaching transpires months after excessive ocean heat. But that isn’t the case in Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Florida Keys.

In fact, The Gulf of Mexico’s temperature breaks mercury at 90 degrees. That means fiercer hurricanes for everyone. It so happens that hurricanes strengthen when they pass over warm waters, in the same way a car juices up at a gas station.

But the heat has taken its biggest toll on the Arctic Ocean, home to massive icebergs and ice sheets. The waters there have reportedly warmed by 10 degrees more than the average. Anyone could make the connection, I guess.

God, I feel sorry for this planet. We’re nearer the biblical lake of fire than most people would think.