Crypto News: The sea is sick

Today's newsletter looks at changes to our seas. Swimmers in the Mediterranean this summer may have noticed the water is unusually warm — but the high temperatures are more shocking for marine life. You can read the full version of the story on Bloomberg.com

Later, learn about the sailors who are collecting climate data as they race around the world. Competitors in some of the toughest ocean sailing events are making sacrifices on speed to gather new intel on dying coral, trash and pollution. You can also find this story online.

By Jack Wittels

Add unprecedented sea temperatures in the Mediterranean to the grim list of heat-related records being smashed this summer.

The Mediterranean's surface temperature hit 28.7C (83.7F) last week, the highest median recording for any day since at least 1982, according to Spain's Institute of Marine Sciences. It's a record that may soon be surpassed, with the sea typically at its hottest in late August.

"The situation is crazy," said Melanie Juza, a researcher at the Balearic Islands Coastal Observing and Forecasting System, or SOCIB, a public consortium backed by Spain's government. "The Mediterranean Sea is responding very rapidly to climate change."

A pathway leading to Porto Rotondo, during hot weather caused by the Charon heat wave, near Olbia, on the island of Sardinia, Italy, on Tuesday, July 18, 2023. Photographer: Francesca Volpi/Bloomberg

Spikes in the Mediterranean's surface temperatures may seem less dramatic than what's happening on nearby land — a scorching 48C was recently reported for Sardinia and local records have been broken this summer in Rome and Catalonia. But for marine life, these sorts of readings are extreme — and could be deadly.

Take Posidonia oceanica, a type of seagrass that grows in vast underwater meadows. Endemic to the Mediterranean, it's both an enormous carbon sink and a vital nursery for fish. But if the water gets too warm, its growth can be stunted or, even worse, it can die off. Recent temperatures in the Mediterranean have been high enough to potentially cause damage, according to Mauro Randone, a marine-focused scientist working at the World Wide Fund for Nature's Mediterranean Marine Initiative.

It's a similar story for red gorgonians, a type of coral. Typically found at depths of below 25 meters (82 feet), it's usually safe from swings in sea surface temperature. But marine heatwaves have killed them in the past, and the temperatures seen in recent weeks may also have had an impact, according to Randone.

Source: Balearic Islands Coastal Observing and Forecasting System website

Globally, other marine environments are also suffering from extreme heat. Approximately 44% of the global ocean recently experienced marine heat waves, according to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Extreme water temperatures are responsible for coral bleaching and harmful algal blooms, among other impacts. One of the most notorious marine heat waves, known as "The Blob," hit waters off North America's west coast in the mid-2010s, decimating populations of Pacific cod, seabirds and salmon.

The Mediterranean Sea has its own unique qualities. It's a hub for biodiversity, hosting up to 18% of known marine species — many of which can only be found there — despite representing just 0.3% of the global ocean by volume.

It's also unfortunately becoming a "lab for climate change," said Simon van Gennip, a research scientist at non-profit Mercator Ocean International. "It's one of the fastest warming parts of the ocean in the world."

Click here to continue reading the full version of this story as it appeared on Bloomberg.com. For unlimited access to climate and energy news — and to receive the Bloomberg Green magazine — please subscribe.

80%

This is about how much of the world's oceans remain unmapped, unobserved and unexplored.

"Warming ocean temperatures will – and currently are having – huge impact on land. Strange and dangerous weather patterns will be the norm in places where they've never happened before and at higher frequency."

Deborah Brosnan

A marine scientist and founder of environmental risk consultancy Deborah Brosnan & Associates

Hot oceans are amplifying weather-driven catastrophes. They're also accelerating climate change. As water temperatures rise, oceans lose their ability to serve a vital function: absorb the world's excess heat.

Round-the-world sailors can sense something is different. Steeper waves? Shifting winds? There's no missing the calls to change course, sometimes drastically, to avoid icebergs in waters that were previously too far from the poles to be dangerous.

Competitive sailors' access to the world's oceans — and their first-hand experience of the stresses on the water — have made them an increasingly important resource for researchers keen to better understand the health of the seas. Endurance race boats are now carrying sensors to detect acidity levels, temperatures or microplastic concentrations in locations that vessels rarely, if ever, traverse. They're doing so even though it comes with a cost: speed.

Photographer: Amory Ross / 11th Hour Racing / The Ocean Race

Antarctic sea ice growth is worryingly low. The region's ice has failed to replenish in the midst of winter at the bottom of the world, creating a shocking "six sigma" event.

Tropical oceans are greener, but in a troubling way. More than half of the world's ocean has changed colors in the past 20 years, a phenomenon that is likely driven by climate change, a recent study found.

There's also plastic — everywhere. More than 170 trillion tiny plastic particles — or 2 million tons of them — are floating on the surface of the ocean, and many of them got there after 2004, according to research.

Plastic particles that washed ashore from a sunken container ship in Uswetakeiyawa, Sri Lanka. Photographer: Jonathan Wijayaratne/Bloomberg

Shipping needs tougher climate goals. The industry's international regulator set non-binding emissions targets that fail to align with restricting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, according to experts.

Some solutions create their own problems. Cruise operators are replacing oil-based fuel with liquefied natural gas to run their ships. While it's pitched as a greener way to travel, the change could be worse for the climate in the short term.

Meanwhile, there are deeper concerns. Miners are looking to strip the seabed for valuable metals. This has some countries worried, as there's a lack of scientific knowledge about the deep ocean ecosystems being targeted.

Taking on climate change means giving serious thought to how we talk about and imagine it. This week Zero kicks off a series of conversations with climate storytellers. Novelist Kim Stanley Robinson joins Akshat Rathi to talk about how he crafts a good story out of a desperate situation, what he thinks the limits of climate storytelling are, and how his thinking has changed since publishing Ministry for the Future, a landmark "cli-fi" work. Listen to the full episode and subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Google to get new episodes.

Also, check out The Big Take podcast. Despite global efforts to slow the effects of climate change, July was the hottest month on record in over 125,000 years. Bloomberg's Eric Roston, Zahra Hirji and John Ainger join this episode to discuss what it would take to accelerate policy, financial investment, and tech implementation to catch up with—and surpass—the rate of global warming. Listen to the full episode on Apple and Spotify.

By Brian K. Sullivan

Things are cooking in Phoenix again. Near record high temperatures are expected across south central Arizona. Since June 30 the streak of 110F days in Phoenix has only taken two days off — Monday and Tuesday — when the highs were 108 and 109 respectively.

The high in Phoenix was 111 on Wednesday and 113 on Thursday. The forecast at Phoenix's Sky Harbor International Airport is 112 for Friday and will stay above 110F until at least Tuesday.

Dry lightning continues to be a threat across the Pacific Northwest — most of Oregon and parts of northern California and Nevada, the US Storm Prediction Center said. This continues through Saturday. Red flag fire warnings are out across this area.

In addition, dry winds and high temperatures will raise fire risks through central Texas. Similar conditions will pop up in Washington state on Friday and New Mexico and Arizona tomorrow.

In other weather news:

Europe: Europe's next blast of heat is set to hit Spain early next week, with temperatures climbing back to 40C (104F) in the southwest of the country by Sunday.

Tropics: Tropical Storm Khanun is raking across Japan's smaller islands and could actually turn due north and strike somewhere in western Japan on Sunday. It will be a strong tropical storm at that point. Okinawa and the other islands are facing dangerous storm surge, heavy rain that could lead to landslides and high waves through at least Saturday, according to Japan Meteorological Agency.

UK: Another unseasonably deep area of low pressure is going to drop on the UK over the weekend. Eastern parts of the country will get "heavy showery rain" Friday with thunderstorms and hail in East Anglia, Alex Burkill, a UK Met Office meteorologist said in a briefing. Overnight the center of the low will cross Northern Ireland and lambaste other parts of the UK on Saturday. Rain warnings are up in Northern Ireland and a wind warning across Wales and southwest England as gusts could reach up to 65 miles per hour, Burkill said. There will also be a chance of flooding across parts of Ireland, according to Met Éireann.