A marine heatwave is traveling from the coast of West Africa to Iceland, creating the most extreme conditions witnessed in the North Atlantic in all of recorded history.
The roughly 4,000-mile-long stretch of superheated water is encircling the coast of West Africa, Europe and the United Kingdom, all the way up to Iceland and the tip of Greenland, according to graphics shared by meteorologist Colin McCarthy and others. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is describing the phenomenon, which could have dire consequences if it continues, as a Category 4 (extreme) marine heatwave.
The North Sea is the most anomalously warm body of open water on Earth today@NOAA have classed it as a Category 4 (extreme) marine heat wave. What does this mean?
– nutrient & oxygen disruption
– disruption of marine food webs
– harm to fisheries
– extreme weather downwind pic.twitter.com/C8tIGkr88K— Dr Thomas Smith 🔥🌏 (@DrTELS) June 19, 2023
London School of Economic geography professor Thomas Smith said that the impacted areas will suffer nutrient and oxygen disruptions, the disruption of marine food-webs, harm to fisheries and extreme weather conditions. (RELATED: Food Security Isn’t Being Tracked, According To Scientists. Here’s Why That’s A Huge Issue)
Other researchers have argued that the situation is actually far worse than reported, and that the heatwave should be classed as a Category 5. The only thing freaking me out is how close this heating is to Greenland. The last thing we need right now is for that big ole chunk of frozen fresh water to collapse into the North Atlantic.
If that happens, no one wins.