Large-scale climate drivers, such as the El Niño–Southern Oscillation, influence the climate of Queensland annually. Sea temperatures are warmer during the El Niño phase.
Oceans play a significant role in regulating global climate systems and in slowing the warming rate on land and at the sea surface. Since the 1970s, the world’s oceans have absorbed 91% of the extra heat stored by the planet due to increased greenhouse gas emissions.
Increasing ocean heat has consequences for:
- oceanic and atmospheric circulation patterns
- sea levels
- decreasing solubility of oxygen
- frequency and intensity of cyclones.
Ocean warming gives rise to longer and more frequent marine heatwaves. Average sea surface temperatures have continued to increase over the past ten years. Record high temperatures were recorded in 2010, 2016, 2020 and 2022.
The Coral Sea and Northern Tropics regions
The Coral Sea region (4°S–26°S, 142°E–174°E) borders most of Queensland’s east coast. The Northern Tropics region (4°S–22°S, 94°E–174°E) is more extensive and includes the Coral Sea, the Gulf of Carpentaria and the eastern Indian Ocean. Sea-surface temperature (SST) records for these regions date back to 1900.
The average annual (1991 to 2020 baseline) sea-surface temperatures are:
- 27.5°C for the Coral Sea region
- 27.8°C for the Northern Tropics.
A warming trend has been evident in these regions during the entire period on record, resulting in sea-surface temperatures that are now more than +1°C warmer, on average, than 100 years ago.
For the Coral Sea (representative of conditions near Queensland):
- The ten-year period ending in 2023 was the warmest on record, with sea- surface temperature anomalies being +0.3°C above the 1991 to 2020 average.
- 2022 was the warmest year on record, with sea-surface temperature anomalies being +0.6°C above the 1991 to 2020 average.
For the wider Northern Tropics region:
- The ten-year period ending in 2022 was the warmest on record, with sea-surface temperature anomalies being +0.2°C above the 1991 to 2020 average.
- 2022 was the second warmest year on record, with sea-surface temperature anomalies being +0.5°C above the 1991 to 2020 average.
