Ocean Warming Accelerates by 400% Over Four Decades, Study Finds

New research links rising greenhouse gases and Earth's energy imbalance to unprecedented ocean temperature increases with severe global impacts.

Global mean sea surface temperatures (GMSST) are now rising at a rate of 0.27°C per decade, a fourfold increase compared to the 1980s.
The study attributes this acceleration to greenhouse gas emissions, reduced atmospheric reflectivity, and Earth's growing energy imbalance.
Natural factors like El Niño events and the 2022 Hunga Tonga volcanic eruption have contributed to recent temperature spikes but do not fully explain the rapid warming trend.
Warmer oceans are intensifying extreme weather events, accelerating glacier melt, and threatening marine ecosystems such as coral reefs and fisheries.
Researchers warn that without significant reductions in fossil fuel emissions, ocean warming rates in the next 20 years could surpass those of the last four decades.