The Ocean Surface is Warming Over 400% Faster Than in the 1980s

[C0RI0LANUS]

Sea surface temperature anomalies for 27 January 2025. The deeper the warm colors, the more anomalously high the sea temperature is. (NOAA)


The unexpected jump in global temperatures since 2023 has helped fuel a relentless assault of associated disasters around the world, including the Los Angeles fires and the deadly Valencia floods in Spain, leaving researchers scrambling for explanations.

Data from the world's oceans now reveal that an alarming acceleration in sea surface warming likely contributed. A new study from the University of Reading in the UK finds the tops of our oceans are warming more than four times faster than in the late 1980s.


We can still change the course of Earth's energy imbalance (EEI) if we stop emitting fossil fuels (green line scenario). (Merchant et al., Environ. Res. Lett., 2025)

Scenes like these below are in our future unless we do something now.



The remains of beachside homes in California destroyed in the Palisades Fire, 16 Jan 2025. (Photo: Mario Tama / Getty Images)


Aftermath of the floods in Valencia, Spain, 20 Oct 2024. (Photo: David Ramos /Staff / Getty Image News)


Police officers in an inflatable boat look for residents to evacuate in Guipry Messac, western France (Photo: AP)

Sources:

https://www.reading.ac.uk/news/2025/Research-News/Ocean-surface-warming-four-times-faster-now-than-late-1980s

https://www.sciencealert.com/the-ocean-surface-is-warming-over-400-faster-than-in-the-1980s

https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/products/extended-reconstructed-sst

[hatrack]

1. Declining Planetary Reflectivity Is Likely Also In The Mix;

EDIT

Another piece of the puzzle is the planet’s diminishing reflectivity, according to Brian McNoldy, an atmospheric scientist at the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science. The ocean’s dark surface helps it absorb heat, whereas white clouds and aerosol particles in the atmosphere help bounce the sun’s radiation back into space. In 2020, the International Maritime Organization adopted a new rule to cut back on sulfur pollution from shipping fuel, but because the aerosol particles in emissions acted as a seed for clouds, the regulation had the unintended effect of dimming the marine layer of clouds that blanket the ocean.

“So you get rid of a lot of those, and now more of the sun’s energy can be absorbed in the ocean instead of reflecting off clouds,” McNoldy said. According to Merchant, efforts to curb air pollution from factories in countries like China also had the side effect of cutting back reflective aerosols.

The excess ocean warmth has had wide-ranging consequences. In April 2024, as the oceans started simmering, 77 percent of the world’s coral reefs became imperiled in the most extensive bleaching event on record, threatening the livelihoods of a billion people and a quarter of marine life. Changing ocean temperatures also shift weather patterns, potentially intensifying droughts, downpours, and storms alike.

“Hurricanes love warmer water. So all other things be equal, a warmer ocean can produce stronger hurricanes with maybe more frequent instances of rapid intensification,” McNoldy said. Last September, Hurricane Helene slammed into Florida’s Gulf Coast after surging from a Category 1 to a Category 4 storm in a single day.

“The oceans really set the pace for global warming for the Earth as a whole,” Merchant said. The knock-on effects — like wildfires, drought, and floods — will continue to escalate, too. “That really needs to be understood, but it also needs to filter through to governments that changes might be coming down the line faster than they’re currently assuming.”

EDIT/END

https://grist.org/oceans/why-earth-oceans-record-hot-streak/

[C0RI0LANUS]

2. Hi hatrack. Thank you for the info. We have to take better care of Mother Earth, she's overheating.