Copernicus: record ocean warming in June
The Copernicus Earth observation services, part of the European Union’s space programme, predict that this record will have consequences for both weather patterns and the global climate, as well as for marine ecosystems
Global daily sea surface temperatures have exceeded the record levels observed in 2023 and 2024 for this time of year. This has been confirmed by the Copernicus Climate Change Service and the Copernicus Marine Service, which have noted ‘the highest ocean warming ever recorded for this period’. “This record is expected to have consequences for both weather patterns and the global climate, as well as for marine ecosystems,” state the Copernicus Earth Observation Services of the European Union’s space programme, noting that forecasts indicate a El Niño that is likely to be strong.
The Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) states that daily sea surface temperature data “exceeded the 2024 levels on 21 June, with a temperature of 20.86 degrees Celsius, slightly higher than the 20.83 recorded in 2023 and 2024. Daily data from the Copernicus Marine Service also indicate record temperatures on 21 June, reaching 21.0 degrees and exceeding the previous records from 2023 and 2024 by 0.1 degrees’.
The new global record for sea surface temperature for this time of year “was expected following the onset of El Niño conditions in the equatorial Pacific”, that is, the abnormal warming of the ocean surface, “announced by the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) on 2 June, in addition to the unusually high sea surface temperatures observed in various ocean regions in recent months”.
This record-breaking warming “reflects both climate change and the onset of an El Niño event, the intensity of which, according to the C3S’s suite of seasonal forecast models, is expected to reach levels not seen for decades”, the organisation states.
A warmer ocean, explains Cpernicus, ‘has far-reaching consequences. Higher ocean temperatures keep the atmosphere warm for longer, provide additional energy to storms and increase evaporation, thereby raising the risk of extreme rainfall and flooding. Ocean warming also contributes to rising sea levels and the melting of ice, placing marine ecosystems under severe strain. Higher sea surface temperatures are also associated with more frequent and intense marine heatwaves: periods characterised by unusually high ocean temperatures that disrupt ecosystems and fisheries, affect coastal economies and can even intensify extreme heat events in surrounding land areas. Furthermore, an El Niño event acts as a heat source for the atmosphere, raising global temperatures and altering weather patterns worldwide.’ ‘The current conditions could signal the start of a new phase, which will once again take us into uncharted territory,’ said Carlo Buontempo, director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service ‘With ocean temperatures at these levels and El Niño on the horizon, it is likely that we will see further temperature records broken in the coming months.’
