- In 2025, the world's oceans absorbed more heat than in any year since modern records began, indicating a significant acceleration of global warming.
- Ocean heat content increased by 23 zettajoules, an amount comparable to detonating hundreds of millions of Hiroshima atomic bombs, or 200 times humanity's global electricity consumption in 2023.
- Scientists regard ocean heat content as one of the clearest measures of long-term global warming, as oceans absorb over 90 per cent of the excess heat trapped by greenhouse gases.
- The warming is not uniform, with specific regions such as parts of the tropical and South Atlantic, North Pacific, and Southern Ocean experiencing record-high heat content.
- Warmer oceans are intensifying global weather patterns, contributing to more extreme events including tropical cyclones, heavy rainfall, droughts, sea-level rise, and marine heatwaves.
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