cross-posted from: https://beehaw.org/post/638998

Sustained high temperatures over summer could trigger mass mortality of fish and oysters, say scientists

From the article:

Daniela Schmidt, a professor of earth sciences at the University of Bristol:

The extreme and unprecedented temperatures show the power of the combination of human-induced warming and natural climate variability like El Niño.
While marine heatwaves are found in warmer seas like the Mediterranean, such anomalous temperatures in this part of the north Atlantic are unheard of. They have been linked to less dust from the Sahara but also the North Atlantic climate variability, which will need further understanding to unravel.

Piers Forster, a professor of climate physics at the University of Leeds:

Cleaning up sulphur from marine shipping fuels is probably adding to the greenhouse gas driven warming. The shift towards El Niño conditions is also adding to the heat. There is also evidence that there is less Saharan dust over the ocean this year. This normally reflects heat away from the ocean. So in all, oceans are being hit by a quadruple whammy – it’s a sign of things to come.

This article is an excellent example of how different climate systems are connected and affect each other in ways that we do not yet fully understand. Climate feedback loops are starting to become apparent even to the uninformed eye, and pardon my French, but shit’s about to get crazy.