The global ocean just logged 100 straight days of record-breaking heat
Sea surface temperatures broke daily records for over three months this summer, with the ocean absorbing 43% more excess heat in 2025 than the year before.
According to a piece published Friday by Elizabeth Claire Alberts on Mongabay, the global ocean recorded 100 consecutive days of unprecedented warmth between June 2 and September 10, with sea surface temperatures surpassing every previous measurement recorded since 1982 on each of those days. The European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service recorded the streak's peak in late August, when temperatures hit 21.10 degrees Celsius (69.98 degrees Fahrenheit) on August 22 before climbing to 21.18 degrees Celsius (70.12 degrees Fahrenheit) by August 27.
The underlying driver is human-caused climate change: more than 90% of the excess heat generated by burning fossil fuels and other greenhouse gas emissions is absorbed by the ocean. In 2025 alone, the ocean took in 23 zettajoules of energy, a 43% increase over the 16 zettajoules it absorbed in 2024, according to the report.
A concurrent El Nino event, forecast to be "very strong" and to peak toward the end of 2026, is amplifying the warming trend on top of the long-term climate signal. Scientists cited in the piece said cutting greenhouse gas emissions remains essential to slowing the pace of ocean warming going forward.
Elizabeth Claire Alberts, Mongabay: https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/global-ocean-breaks-records-with-100-days-of-heat-as-el-nino-adds-new-threat/
This article was produced with the assistance of AI tools and reviewed by an editor before publication.
