Our sea surface temperatures are rising this April, instead of falling like they usually do. We are set to break temperature records but why is this happening?
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00:00 Did you know that sea surface temperatures tend to decline in April?
00:08 Well this is due to water having a higher heat capacity than air, which means it takes
00:13 longer to heat up and cool down compared to the air above, which in turn creates a seasonal
00:20 lag so it isn't until April that the colder winter temperatures are really seen in the
00:26 ocean.
00:27 This year though, it's not really the case.
00:30 In fact our sea surface temperatures are continuing to get warmer and they've already exceeded
00:34 21 degrees Celsius.
00:36 It actually looks like temperature records could be broken.
00:40 So why is this?
00:41 Well it could be due to the Enso cycle of La Nina and El Nino.
00:46 We've just had three years of La Nina and in La Nina cold water upwells from deep in
00:52 the ocean and brings with it colder than average temperatures.
00:56 Like I said, La Nina has just ended and it looks like El Nino is about to start, which
01:01 is the opposite.
01:02 So it could be that those suppressed temperatures in the La Nina years are going to come roaring
01:08 back.
01:09 This isn't a new phenomenon though, so why is it that this year is bucking the trend?
01:15 Well we don't really know, but what we do know is that a warmer ocean is more concerning.
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