Oceans hit record temperatures in 2024

As 2024 begins with the hottest ocean temperatures ever recorded, our climate situation is looking pretty dire.

The world’s oceans reached the hottest temperatures ever recorded early in 2024, serving as a profoundly concerning indication that the Earth is spiraling toward extreme climate breakdown – if greenhouse gas emissions from human activity do not see radical reductions immediately.

As humanity continues emitting heat-trapping gases into the atmosphere, principally by burning fossil fuels, the oceans have been forced to absorb a staggering 90% of the accumulating excess heat. This has pushed ocean temperatures to unprecedented levels, with experts warning the consequences could be catastrophic.

John Abraham, a professor of thermal sciences at the University of St. Thomas and co-author of the ocean temperature analysis published in Advances in Atmospheric Sciences, said: ‘It’s year after year that we’re setting heat records in the ocean.

The fact that this process is continuing apace every single year is incredibly illuminating for us because it drives home how intrinsically the oceans are connected to global warming and climate change.’

In 2023 alone, the oceans absorbed about 287 petajoules of heat energy – which Abraham points out is equivalent to eight Hiroshima atomic bombs detonating every single second of every single day. The ocean heat content measured in 2023 was a shocking 15 zettajoules higher than figures from 2022.

Analyzing ocean heat data from the surface down to depths of 2,000 meters, the researchers found increased warming across huge expanses of the ocean. But Abraham emphasized that the most pronounced temperature spikes were detected in shallow surface waters. Temperatures here were an average of 0.3°C higher in the second half of 2023 compared to 2022 – what Abraham described as ‘mind-boggling hot’.

January 2024 was the warmest January on record.

New data from @CopernicusECMWF shows that we've now had:

– the eighth record breaking month in a row and

– twelve months (Feb 23-Jan 24) with global temperatures more than 1.5ºC above the pre-industrial reference baseline. pic.twitter.com/FYNPZOGsan

— Dr Sam Burgess 🌍🌡🛰 (@OceanTerra) February 8, 2024

Rising ocean temperatures do not bode well for the stability of the climate system and weather patterns. As the oceans grow hotter, more heat and moisture transfer to the atmosphere above through evaporation.

This leads to an escalation in the frequency and severity of extreme weather events across the globe – from deadly heat waves to droughts, wildfires, and intense rainfall that causes devastating flooding.

In 2023 the world endured this chain reaction: scorching heat waves plagued China, Europe and North America; Canada experienced an extreme wildfire season; and countries like Libya, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Australia were battered by record-shattering rainfall and floods.