The past couple of months have seen countless headlines on wildfires and concern about the immense heat on land. Gaining less exposure, but potentially just as severe, have been the record-breaking ocean temperatures registered this year. The world\u2019s oceans have been breaking surface temperature levels almost weekly. Such high temperatures could bring extreme weather to shipping routes and ports and cost the industry billions.<\/p>\n
The Atlantic Ocean is getting hotter and hotter. According to the EU\u2019s Copernicus Climate Change Service, the average temperature of the global ocean surface on July 31 was exactly 20.9648 degrees Celsius, narrowly beating the previous record set in 2016. And the trend of increasing temperatures is consistently pointing upwards, which will bring more rough seas for shipping to contend with.<\/p>\n
\u201cA critical temperature in tropical cyclone development that forecasters look for is 27C, and with the global temperature index increasing, we can expect to see that threshold exceeded more frequently, and in turn more frequent hurricane development,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
The biggest threat to the commercial shipping sector from the warming seas will be the increased frequency and intensity of weather hazards driven by ocean warming.<\/p>\n