Who can forget Boaty McBoatface, the viral sensation of early 2016 before everything was bad and the internet was still fun, when Great Britain’s Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) opened up the naming of a £200 million polar research vessel to public. Despite the 125,000 and some votes for Boaty, the organization instead decided to go with the “RRS Sir David Attenborough,” named for the renowned natural historian — however allowed the vessel’s undersea sample-gathering submarine to be called Boaty McBoatface as a consolation prize.
The vessel was set to sail the waters of Antarctica and the Arctic in 2019, and has now successfully returned from its inaugural mission. And Boaty’s findings, published in a PNAS journal on Monday, have revealed that “increasingly strong winds in the region are causing turbulence deep within the sea, and as a result mixing warm water from middle levels with colder water in the abyss.”
So what does this mean, in layman’s terms?
That process is causing the sea temperature to rise, which in turn is a significant contributor to rising sea levels, scientists behind the project said.
Antarctic winds are growing in strength due to the thinning of the ozone layer and the build-up of greenhouse gases, but their impact on the ocean has never been factored in to climate models.
Gulp!
Ironically enough, Boaty McBoatface is pictured above with Conservative Party Prime Minister candidate Boris Johnson (also known as “Britian’s Donald Trump“) who oversaw “devastating” cuts to combat climate change when he served as a foreign secretary.
But despite the grim news, some managed to find it in themselves to joke on Twitter — because what does it matter if we’re all gonna die anyway?
2016: lol, they named it Boaty McBoatface
2019: Boaty McBoatface has determined that increasing winds have cooled surface ocean temperatures, causing them to subduct and cause turbulence, which is amplifying the rise of sea level, threatening billions. https://t.co/TZBJAJLurn
— Lee Drake (@Lee__Drake) June 18, 2019
https://twitter.com/SteakSupreme/status/1140973878275182592
https://twitter.com/JenApparently/status/1140981416068624384
https://twitter.com/MollyJongFast/status/1140958012812812289
Boaty McBoatface Us too
telling us that focused on
we’re all going how cute it’s
to die: name is: pic.twitter.com/sSKG9YrNRn— Groundhog Year (@Lopezdot0) June 18, 2019
Some of us knew from the beginning that Boaty McBoatface was destined for greatness. cc: @Rob_Bradley https://t.co/QOSC9lVgBr
— Steve Schale (@steveschale) June 18, 2019
It was all fun and games until I realized Boaty McBoatface will accomplish more in life than I ever will.
— McNeil (@Reflog_18) June 18, 2019
Scientists analysing arctic data have alarming new proof of accelerated global warming, but the discovery was made by Boaty McBoatface, which is cheery. pic.twitter.com/bCASvibciw
— Christopher Fowler (@Peculiar) June 18, 2019
When the aliens visit us and ask about our planet’s rich history, I’ll tell them the story about how humans finally put their differences aside and came together to name a scientific research vessel, “Boaty McBoatface.” https://t.co/CCrqMa4lIK
— siraj hashmi (@SirajAHashmi) June 18, 2019
Hey, but on the bright side!
Well at least the silly name meant that climate change news was more likely to get shared widely, for once. https://t.co/4eH8FrpjPi
— webgiant (@ljmauler) June 18, 2019
Only Boaty can save us now. Godspeed, you ridiculously named vessel.