Polar Oceans Transformed as Warming Melts Ice Habitats: Research
The report says Arctic sea ice has shrunk by nearly half a million square kilometres a decade since 1979, threatening coasts and wildlife.
- The tenth Copernicus Ocean State Report, published Wednesday, warns oceans are warming at an "alarming pace," with last year marking the ninth consecutive year of record-breaking heat absorption.
- Global oceans absorb roughly 90% of excess heat from burning fossil fuels, and warming rates have doubled over the past 20 years, with sea surface temperatures hitting record highs in 2023, 2024, and 2026.
- Arctic sea surface temperatures rose around 7.6 degrees Fahrenheit over four decades, while sea ice levels fell roughly 190,000 square miles per decade; European seas face "intense pressure" from record marine heatwaves.
- Storm Louis brought 26-foot waves to Spain in 2024, causing one death and infrastructure damage, while a separate storm forced ferries in Bothnian Bay to stop operating for 18 hours after sea levels plunged 60 inches.
- Climate change is reshaping habitats and threatening "endangered" Emperor penguins as oceans become around 17% more acidic; Pierre Bahurel, director general of Mercator Ocean International, urged building "permanent capacity to anticipate this transformation.
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Study indicates that all Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs) of Small Island Developing States (SIDS) are affected by ocean warming since 1960
In 2025, the ocean absorbed a record of 23 zettajoules of energy, the equivalent of 40 times the world's energy consumption. Polar regions experience profound changes, with significant ice loss in the Arctic and unprecedented reproductive failures among the emperor penguins in Antarctica.
Polar oceans transformed as warming melts ice habitats: research
The Copernicus Ocean State Report depicts profound changes across the world's seas, from record-breaking heatwaves in the Mediterranean and Black seas to shifts in marine ecosystems and increasingly acidic waters. "The message is very clear. The ocean is changing rapidly," said Pierre Bahurel, director general of Mercator Ocean International, which runs the European Union's Copernicus Marine Service. Some of the more dramatic effects from global…
Accelerated warming of the polar oceans weakens the Arctic coasts and threatens the disappearance of emperor penguin colonies Climate change rapidly transforms the oceans
The tenth Copernicus report confirms that the sea continues to warm and warns of regional differences
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