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Ocean Warming Has Doubled in Past 20 Years: EU Copernicus Report

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09 Oct, 2024

This post was originally published on Eco Watch

According to the latest Ocean State Report (OSR 8) from EU Copernicus, the world’s oceans are experiencing rapid warming, increasing acidification, more marine heat waves and more algal blooms in recent years compared to previous decades.

In particular, the report highlighted that ocean warming has nearly doubled since 2005, and it had already been steadily increasing since 1960. The previous long-term rate of warming was at 0.58 watts per square meter. In the past two decades, that rate has reached 1.05 watts per square meter.

According to the report, 75% of northern hemisphere ocean surfaces are warming faster than the global average, while 35% of southern hemisphere ocean surfaces are warming faster than average. This warming leads to multiple disruptions to ecosystems, including increasing coastal erosion and flooding, decreasing sea ice and increasing tropical cyclone intensity. 

As the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reported, hurricanes require water surface temperatures of at least 80 degrees Fahrenheit (27 degrees Celsius) and a storm or other weather disturbance that can pull in air. Studies have shown links between warming ocean surface temperatures and more intense tropical storms, a link that is supported by the latest Ocean State Report.

The Ocean State Report revealed several other concerning impacts of warming on global oceans, including more intense and deeper marine heat waves that reached as far as 1,500 meters below the ocean surface. As of last year, 22% of the global ocean surface experienced a severe to extreme marine heat wave.

Amid this level of ocean warming, sea ice has declined extensively, with a 4% loss per decade in the Arctic since 1979. In the Antarctic, sea ice loss reached a record low, with 1.9 million square kilometers of sea ice lost in 2023 compared to the average from 1993 to 2010. This Antarctic sea ice loss represents an area about three times larger than France.

Algal blooms are another problem brought on by changing ocean temperatures. In particular, an unexpected cold spell near Crete in 2022 led to a 50% more intense phytoplankton bloom than expected for the area. Extreme phytoplankton blooms can affect the entire ecosystem by blocking sunlight for marine life, and dying phytoplankton can further deplete oxygen in the water, worsening the acidification. According to OSR8, ocean acidification has increased 35% since 1985.

Another concern highlighted in the report is increasing wave heights, with the tallest 5% of waves globally reaching even greater heights in the past few years. Taller waves can increase risk of coastal flooding, coastal erosion, and destruction to coastal infrastructure. 

Some regions are already experiencing these impacts. As EU Copernicus reported, a storm brought 7-meter-tall waves that lasted more than 9 seconds in the port of Melilla, Spain in April 2022. 

“This, in turn, drove waves within the harbour to a record-breaking 1.41 m, disturbing maritime operations,” the report noted. “Simulations indicate that similar extreme waves are likely to happen in the region in 25 years time, significantly sooner than previous analysis suggested.”

The post Ocean Warming Has Doubled in Past 20 Years: EU Copernicus Report appeared first on EcoWatch.

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ABB receives EPD status for gearless mill drive ring motor

ABB receives EPD status for gearless mill drive ring motor

ABB has gained Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) status for its Gearless Mill Drive (GMD) ring motor — technology used to drive large grinding mills in the mining industry.

An EPD is a standardised document that provides detailed information about the environmental impact of a product throughout its life cycle. Based on a comprehensive Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) study, the EPD highlights ABB’s commitment to transparency, environmental responsibility and supporting customers in making informed decisions on sustainability in their supply chains.

ABB analysed the environmental impact of a ring motor across its entire life cycle from supply chain and production to usage and end-of-life disposal. The study was conducted for a ring motor of a semi-autogenous grinding (SAG) mill with an installed power of 24 MW and was based on a reference service life of 25 years.

“Sustainability is at the core of our purpose at ABB, influencing how we operate and innovate for customers,” said Andrea Quinta, Sustainability Specialist at ABB. “By earning the Environmental Product Declaration for our ring motor, we emphasise our environmental stewardship and industry leadership for this technology. We adhered to the highest standards throughout this process, as we do in the ABB Ring Motor factory every day. This recognition highlights to the mining industry what they are bringing into their own operations when they work with ABB.”

The comprehensive LCA was conducted at ABB’s factory in Bilbao, Spain, and was externally verified and published in accordance with international standards ISO 14025 and ISO 14040/14044. It will remain valid for five years.

The ring motor, a key component of the GMD, is a drive system without any gears where the transmission of the torque between the motor and the mill is done through the magnetic field in the air gap between the motor stator and the motor rotor. It optimises grinding applications in the minerals and mining industries by enabling variable-speed operation, leading to energy and cost savings.

The full EPD for the ABB GMD Ring Motor can be viewed on EPD International.

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