The European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service reported that average global sea surface temperatures reached 21.1 degrees Celsius on Friday and Saturday, marking a new high point. This measurement surpassed the previous record of 21.09 degrees Celsius established in March 2024.
The timing of this record is significant because global ocean temperatures typically reach their peak in March and April, when the Southern Hemisphere’s summer season concludes. However, the new record was set in August, indicating an accelerating warming pattern. Officials attributed the elevated temperatures to two factors: a rapidly strengthening El Niño event and decades of warming caused by greenhouse gas emissions from human activities. Samantha Burgess, strategic lead for climate at the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, noted that El Niño is intensifying warming on top of existing long-term ocean temperature increases of approximately 0.8 degrees Celsius.
Forecasts suggest continued warming ahead. The World Meteorological Organization and Copernicus’s seasonal models indicate that the current El Niño could reach intensity levels unseen for several decades, with peak temperatures expected between November and January. Scientists warned that the elevated ocean temperatures have significant ecological and economic consequences. Warmer waters accelerate sea-level rise through thermal expansion, increase the frequency and intensity of marine heatwaves that damage coral reefs and seagrass beds, and disrupt food chains affecting fishing and aquaculture industries. Additionally, warmer oceans absorb less carbon dioxide, reducing the planet’s natural capacity to mitigate climate change.
Experts also cautioned that elevated ocean temperatures destabilize weather patterns and intensify extreme weather events by supplying additional heat and moisture to the atmosphere. Oceanographer Jane Lubchenco, former head of the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, characterized the development as troubling, warning that such conditions threaten food security, economic stability, and marine ecosystems.
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