S1E78: How humans are changing the oceans: Green Pulse

Synopsis: Every first and third Monday of the month, The Straits
Times analyses the beat of the changing environment, from
biodiversity conservation to climate change.


In May, the World Meteorological Organisation released a report
that detailed how four key climate change indicators set new
records in 2021. Three of them relate to the ocean: sea level
rise, ocean heat and ocean acidification. 


Global mean sea level reached a new record high in 2021, the
upper 2,000m of the ocean is warming at a rate that is
irreversible on timescales of hundreds to thousands of years,
while the open ocean pH - a measure of acidity - is likely to be
the lowest it has been for at least 26,000 years. Greenhouse gas
concentrations also reached a new global high in 2020, when the
concentration of carbon dioxide - the main greenhouse gas driving
climate change - reached 413.2 parts per million globally, or 149
per cent of the pre-industrial level.


In this episode, The Straits Times environment correspondent
Audrey Tan and climate change editor David Fogarty discuss the
role of the ocean in keeping our planet cool, with Professor
Benjamin Horton, a climate scientist and director of the Earth
Observatory of Singapore at the Nanyang Technological
University. 


Highlights (click/tap above):


01:57 How important is the ocean to the global climate? 


03:00 Does climate action matter, when climate impacts like sea
level rise are irreversible? 


07:00 What are the impacts of a warmer ocean? 


11:55 Why is the ocean becoming more acidic? 


Produced by: Audrey Tan (audreyt@sph.com.sg), David Fogarty
(dfogarty@sph.com.sg), Ernest Luis and Hadyu Rahim


Edited by: Hadyu Rahim


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Read his stories: https://str.sg/JLMu


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