The Ministry of Defense warns that due to climate change, ship engines may fail
Rise in sea temperature as a result changing of the climate The Ministry of Defense (MoD) warned that this could lead to engine failure on British warships.
During a Defense and Climate Change presentation yesterday by the Defense Committee, Lieutenant General Richard Nugi, who offers advice to the Defense Department on how to improve defense resilience, said warmer waters could act as a “thermal blanket.”
Ships typically rely on cold seas to cool their engines, and as such, they “might get in trouble” if global warming raises water temperatures.
“Ship captains have told me that the engines can shut down at today’s sea surface temperature, not to mention 38-40 degrees,” Lieutenant General Nagi said.
“So there is something we need to understand and we need to do something to make sure our engines can handle this kind of water.”
Lieutenant General Nagy (pictured) is a retired senior British Army officer and head of the Department of Defense Climate Change and Sustainability Review 2021. Yesterday he spoke at the Defense and Climate Change session.
Ships typically rely on cold seas to cool their engines, and as such, they “might get in trouble” if global warming raises water temperatures. Pictured: HMS Montrose of the Royal Navy patrols the Gulf of Oman.
A World Meteorological Organization (WMO) report published in May states that Ocean temperatures hit record levels in 2021.
Professor Albert Klein Tank, Director of Climate Science and Services at the UK Met Office, said: “About 90 per cent of the heat from climate change is stored in the ocean, and last year’s records show that climate change is progressing.”
The University of Exeter and Brest study also warns that “Deep Ocean could warm another 0.36°F (0.2°C) in the next 50 years.
The deep ocean is defined as water more than 2,300 feet (700 m) below the surface, and it is where most of the heat that humans have produced since the Industrial Revolution is stored.
Extreme sea heat is now described as “new normal”since since 2014 more than half of the world’s ocean surface has experienced it.
Lieutenant General Nagy is a retired senior British Army officer and head of the Department of Defense Climate Change and Sustainability Review 2021.
During yesterday’s session, he warned that British seaports could be under water if we experience “even 1.5 degrees Celsius” of warming.
The goal of limiting global warming to 2.7 °F (1.5 °C) was part of the Paris Agreement, which was signed in 2014 by 193 states and the European Union.
The Defense Department climate adviser said that if and Antarctic as well as Greenland The ice sheets were supposed to melt, sea levels could rise 33 feet (10 meters).
Rising sea temperatures as a result of climate change could lead to engine failure on British warships, Lieutenant General Richard Nagy has warned. Pictured: HMS Prince of Wales in Portsmouth harbor.
Lieutenant General Nugi said: “The combination of sea level rise over time and stronger storms, which is another feature of climate change, means our ports will frankly be harder to use and possibly end up under. water.” Pictured: the Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth docked at Portsmouth Naval Base during a thunderstorm.
He said: “In practice, this will mean that the runway, for example, in Gibraltar will be underwater.
“So, let’s say, Port Stanley and the Falklands, but even Portsmouth and Devonport could not cope with the 10-meter sea level.
“The combination of sea level rise over time and stronger storms, which is another feature of climate change, means our ports will frankly be harder to use and possibly end up underwater.”
Lieutenant General Nugi emphasized that it would “take time” to achieve these capabilities, but if we get past the tipping point it will be “nearly impossible” to return.
Last year in Overview of climate change and sustainable developmenthe warned that climate change “is changing the way our military fights, lives and trains.”
His report also says that in the future, military vehicles may be electric, while others will run on fuel and parts made from recycled materials.