🔥 Oceans on fire! A new study in Advances in Atmospheric Sciences reveals that in 2025 the worlds oceans absorbed a record 23 zettajoules of heat thats like packing 37 years of global energy use into our seas! 🌊
Led by over 50 scientists from 31 institutions across Asia, Europe and the Americas, the team integrated data from top centers and independent groups. They found that the heat content in the upper 2,000 meters hit its highest level ever, with 16% of ocean areas setting all-time heat records and another 33% ranking among their top three warmest years.
Regional hotspots included the tropical and South Atlantic, the North Pacific and the Southern Ocean. Interestingly, while deep ocean warming smashed records, 2025s sea-surface temperatures were the third warmest on record, about 0.5°C above the recent baseline just shy of the peaks in 2023 and 2024.
Why it matters? Warmer oceans fuel heavier rainfall, supercharge storms and prolong marine heatwaves. In 2025, this surge helped trigger severe floods in Southeast Asia and Mexico, and droughts in the Middle East.
Beyond extreme weather, rising ocean heat drives sea-level rise through thermal expansion and adds moisture to the atmosphere, ramping up future storm risks. Scientists warn that as long as the planet keeps accumulating heat, ocean heat records will keep tumbling.
Its a wake-up call for climate action our blue planet is sending an SOS! 🌍💧
Reference(s):
cgtn.com
