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Niko Pollard

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Article text courtesy of nytimes.com

The Ocean’s Dire Message
Temperatures are the hottest they have been in recorded history, by a wide margin.

Oceans cover more than 70 percent of the Earth’s surface, and yet  the vast majority have not been mapped or explored.

But there are two things we can say with certainty: Oceans are the hottest they have been in recorded history, by a wide margin. And man-made climate change is to blame.

From the North Atlantic to Florida to Antarctica, record water temperatures are forcing scientists to grapple with how climate change is warming the oceans, often in unpredictable and extreme ways, with implications for the entire planet.

Last month, a buoy off the coast of Florida recorded a stunning reading of 101.1 degrees Fahrenheit, or just over 38 Celsius, a possible world record. And those temperatures are having an immediate and deadly effect on one of the world’s must crucial ecosystems.

Coral reefs are dying, and we need them alive

Few patches of the world’s oceans recorded more striking temperatures this July than the waters around Florida, which has been devastating for coral reefs.