GLOBAL OCEAN HEAT STATUS
Global sea surface temperatures are running +1.2°C above the 1981–2010 average — fueling stronger storms, accelerating coral bleaching, and reshaping marine ecosystems worldwide.
RIGHT NOW
Measuring ocean temperatures across 8 major basins worldwide and comparing to seasonal averages.
GLOBAL SNAPSHOT
Data: NOAA OI SST V2.1 · Open-Meteo Marine API
Updated daily from satellite observations.
6 of 8 ocean basins are running above average. Global ocean heat content set another record in 2025, with the upper 2,000 meters absorbing 23 zettajoules more energy than the prior year.
Data: NOAA OI SST V2.1 (ERDDAP) · NOAA NHC, JTWC, WMO for cyclone counts. Each basin page shows three charts: sea surface temp vs. named storms, hurricanes, and major hurricanes.
Sea surface temperatures above 26.5°C fuel tropical cyclones. Multiple basins currently exceeding this threshold — rapid intensification risk is high across the Atlantic and Western Pacific.
How ocean heat fuels storms →Sustained sea surface temps 1°C or more above monthly maximums trigger mass bleaching. The Great Barrier Reef, Caribbean, and Indian Ocean are all in bleaching alert territory.
Understanding coral bleaching →Marine heat waves — persistent anomalies above the 90th percentile — are active in the Gulf of Mexico, NE Atlantic, and Barents Sea. Duration is the key metric: longer events cause more ecological damage.
What is a marine heat wave? →La Niña cools the eastern tropical Pacific but doesn't offset the global signal. The rest of the ocean continues to warm independent of ENSO phase — that's the structural trend.
ENSO and ocean heat →