A newly released report indicates that global ocean waters absorbed a record-breaking 23 zettajoules of thermal energy throughout 2025. This unprecedented influx of heat has resulted in rising sea levels, increased water temperatures, and worsening acidification, rendering marine environments less supportive of life.
The scale of this thermal injection is stark when compared to human consumption; the energy absorbed by the seas was nearly 40 times greater than the total amount of energy utilized by humanity during the same period. These findings underscore the profound and far-reaching alterations currently affecting deep-water systems that are critical to sustaining life on Earth.
Another grim record. When will policymakers stop treating this as a distant threat?
Fishermen are seeing this firsthand. The migrations have completely shifted in my region.
Is 23 zettajoules the cumulative total for the whole year or a monthly peak? The article is vague.
That comparison to human energy use is terrifying. We can’t ignore what we’re dumping into the seas.