Ocean temperatures in 2021 were the hottest ever on record, researchers say, marking the sixth year in a row the record has been topped due to “human-induced climate change.” Last year’s temperatures shattered previous records, even despite an La Niña event that cooled down waters in the Pacific, a new study found. “The ocean heat content is relentlessly increasing, globally, and this is a primary indicator of human-induced climate change,” Kevin Trenberth, a climate scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Colorado who co-authored the research, said in comments carried by The Guardian. Ocean temps have been steadily rising since 1955, a trend that experts say is fueling hurricanes, monster storms, and extreme weather. “Until we reach net-zero emissions, that heating will continue, and we’ll continue to break ocean heat content records, as we did this year,” said researcher Michael Mann of Penn State University.
