Ocean warming

Ocean warming is the long-term rise in the ocean’s heat content and temperature, driven mainly by the accumulation of human-produced greenhouse gases.

Earth's energy budget: The balance between energy Earth receives from the Sun and energy it sends back into space. Greenhouse gases disrupt this balance, adding excess energy that the oceans absorb.
Marine heatwave: An unusually warm ocean event that persists for days to years relative to the local climate. Long-term warming raises the baseline on which marine heatwaves develop.
Argo program: An international network of autonomous floats that measures ocean temperature, salinity, and pressure. Argo profiles provide broad, repeated observations of warming below the ocean surface.
Global ocean heat content record: The observational record tracking changes in heat stored across the world's oceans. Its repeated record highs show the persistence of global ocean heat accumulation.
Atlantic meridional overturning circulation tipping point: A hypothesized threshold beyond which the Atlantic overturning circulation could weaken substantially and persistently. Whether warming could push this circulation past a threshold remains a major research question.
Ocean heat content: The total thermal energy stored in ocean water over a specified region and depth. It measures accumulated ocean warming more reliably than surface temperature alone.
Sea level rise: A sustained increase in the average height of the ocean surface. Warming expands seawater, contributing to rising global mean sea level.
Satellite altimetry: The measurement of Earth's surface height using radar or laser pulses from satellites. Sea-level observations reveal thermal expansion as one contribution to ocean warming's effects.
2023 marine heatwaves: A series of exceptionally extensive and intense marine heatwaves recorded in multiple ocean regions during 2023. These events illustrate how extreme warmth can accompany an already warming ocean.
Ocean carbon sink: The net removal and storage of carbon by ocean processes. Future changes in ocean circulation and chemistry affect how much heat and carbon the ocean can absorb.

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