The World’s Oceans Absorbed a Record Amount of Heat Last Year |

The World’s Oceans Absorbed a Record Amount of Heat Last Year

Today at Life After Gateway, a synopsis of a recent study on the heating of the world’s oceans.

Introduction

Last year, in 2025, the world’s oceans absorbed 23 zettajoules of heat energy over what was absorbed in the previous year. In case, like me, this number is hard to wrap your head around, it looks like this:

23,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 Joules

This is equivalent to thirty-seven years of total global primary energy use, absorbed by the oceans, all in one year. This added energy was observed in the top 2,000 metres of water, which is a basic driver for weather/climate on the Earth’s surface.

Also, according to the World Meteorological Organization, 2025 was one of the three warmest years ever on record, and it continued the streak of the eleven hottest years ever — eleven in a row.

We’ve known this has been happening for decades. Understanding and awareness has generally been increasing since the Industrial Revolution of 1750-1850, but especially in the post-WWII era. The environmental movement has noted dramatic and rapid climate and warming indicator changes on Earth, which are increasing faster than ever in recorded history. I’ve written about them before, but they include, according to NASA:

• Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide continues to increase each year
• Global temperature has increased 1.19 °C since pre-Industrial times
• Methane, a dangerous greenhouse gas that is 28x more effective at retaining heat than CO2, continues to increase
• Arctic sea ice has declined by 12.2% since 1979
• Ice sheets decline by 402,000,000,000 tonnes PER YEAR
• Sea level has increased 3.6 inches since 1993
• Oceans have absorbed 372 zettajoules of heat energy since 1955

Antarctic Ice Changes

Decreasing ice thickness since 1994. Some gains, but more losses.

Now, a recent article has noted that 2025 achieved a record in terms of ocean energy absorption and temperature. Since my series, The Rise of Oceania, involves human exploitation and settlement on the ocean floors due to Global Warming and catastrophic famine and weather events on the surface, today I am highlighting this report for my readers.

Images from TSJ’s A Blanket of Steel (Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 2024)

The Rise of Oceania, Fitzhenry & Whiteside, Ltd. 2018-2024

News

The ocean warming is not equal across the globe: the greatest increases occurred in the South Atlantic, the Southern Ocean, and the North Pacific. The global average surface temperature on Earth is now 1.44 °C above the 1850-1900 average (which is considered the baseline temperature pre-industry), and the 2023-2025 average temperature is 1.48 °C above the pre-industrial era. Although La Nina shows a cooling trend at the start and the end of 2025, the overall average showed an increase in temperature.

Source: WMO

The oceans absorb 90% of the excess heat from warming caused by The Greenhouse Effect. So, in that sense, the oceans help to “cushion” or mitigate temperature increases. However, that doesn’t last forever, and moreover, warmer oceans create major issues for us, and especially for coastal residents and cities.

But more on that soon …

Furthermore, researchers last year discovered that 33% of the world’s ocean area temperature ranked among the top three warmest historical conditions, while 57% was within the top five. The evidence of warmer oceans is clear. The oceans act as a major sink for both carbon and heat. The impact of carbon absorption, as part of the carbon cycle, can actually help protect the surface from rampant runaway warming. I’ve written about that here. Part of the carbon absorption can increase marine vegetation growth, and there are currently studies underway to determine if kelp aquaculture can help mitigate carbon release in the atmosphere. These are in the early stages of development, or the “proof of concept” stage.

Photo Credit: National Geographic Image Collection

In terms of ocean heat absorption, however, the effects are more immediate. The top 2,000 metres of oceans have a major influence on weather systems across the world. They can increase evaporation, rainfall, and violent/extreme storms. This leads to more flooding, wind damage, and massive insurance claims across developed areas. It can also lead to shipping disruptions, travel disruptions, and also death.

Impacts

The temperature increase is clear. The elevated energy absorption is real. And the associated stresses are enormous: sea levels are rising, placing coastal communities and shipping facilities in danger. The global reservoir of heat is driving more violent weather and “pushing climate impacts to new extremes.” According to researchers, heat waves drove massive disasters in 2025, clearly evidenced as wildfires in California, Greece, and Turkey. On top of this, there were rain and flooding events in Mexico and a “Super Typhoon” in the Philippines, “Fung-Wong.” Monsoon rains in Malaysia, Sri Lanka, and Thailand in November 2025 resulted in at least 1,600 deaths. Hurricane Melissa was an example in our hemisphere: it grew so quickly that it proved difficult to predict, and caused extensive damage to Jamaica, Cuba, and Haiti. Its tremendous rate of growth was unique and abnormal.

More violent storms result from warmer ocean temperatures. Oceans drive atmospheric storms, such as Monsoon rains, hurricanes, typhoons, and cyclones, and the warmer oceans become, the more violent the storms. This is because the latent energy from the heat of sunlight evaporating ocean water is released during condensation in the atmosphere directly above the ocean. This drives the winds. In fact, ocean temperature is the primary source of tropical storms. Once ocean water hits 78 °F, it has the potential to generate hurricanes. In 2025, researchers noted that the oceans were the third highest temp on record and were .5 °C above the average baseline established from 1981-2010. Category 5 storms are the maximum … or are they?

Rising ocean temperatures also lead to an increase in ocean levels, and not just due to ice melt. It is also caused by thermal expansion, or a “bulging” ocean due to warmer temps. In essence, warmer waters lead to a sea level rise that’s not related to melting ice.

Coral reefs around the world are also at risk from the heating. They help protect coastlines and provide habitats for massive and diverse biologic zones, and also are themselves considered a living organism. Coral is stressed more than ever before, with large regions showing negative effects and/or dying off. They exist off the coastlines of more than one hundred countries and support at least 25% of the Earth’s (known) marine species. Reefs are disappearing faster than ever. In fact, the Earth has lost 14% of coral reef since 2009. They are known as the “rainforests of the sea” — an interconnected web of biodiversity and vast varieties of species. Moreover, since 2023, 84% of reefs across 83 countries have faced the largest coral bleaching ever recorded.

The impacts of global warming are wide-ranging and diverse. One such observed impact, reported widely last Summer, is the rise of flesh-eating bacteria along coastal locations where runoff from land can lower salt concentrations.

Conclusion

The evidence is clear. I’ve written about The Greenhouse Effect, climate change, and global warming before. Some is natural, but most is caused by human industrial development. The changes are escalating, and a tipping point is coming.

I’ve written about the choices that are facing industrialized nations here and here.

The recent study about Earth’s ocean heating is just another piece of evidence in a long chain. Don’t listen to the noise; pay attention to what the evidence is saying to us. We can’t stop what’s been set in motion, but we can adapt our economies to prepare for the coming climate chaos.

It’s not too late — but that point is approaching.

— Timothy S. Johnston, 3 February 2026

Graph from NASA

Sources

WMO confirms 2025 was one of warmest years on record. World Meteorological Organization. 14 January 2026. https://wmo.int/news/media-centre/wmo-confirms-2025-was-one-of-warmest-years-record

The ocean absorbed a stunning amount of heat in 2025. Science Daily. January 14 2026. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/01/260114080328.htm

NASA’s Earth Indicators. NASA. https://science.nasa.gov/earth/explore/earth-indicators/

Igini, Martina. Global Coral Reefs Face ‘Widespread Death’ As Warming Planet Pushes System Beyond What It Can Cope With. Earth.org. October 14, 2025. https://earth.org/global-coral-reefs-face-widespread-death-as-warming-planet-pushes-system-beyond-what-it-can-cope-with

St. John, Alexa. World slammed by extreme weather in 2025, one of the hottest years on record. The Associated Press. December 30 2025.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/climate-heat-emissions-2025-9.7030427

Simmone Shah. The Oceans Were Hotter Than Ever in 2025. Time Magazine. Jan. 9 2026.
https://time.com/7345060/oceans-record-temperature-2025/

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A Blanket of Steel by Timothy S. Johnston and from Fitzhenry & Whiteside, LTD. is the recipient of the 2024 GLOBAL Thriller Award GRAND PRIZE and the 2024 CYGNUS Award First in Category.

— Timothy S. Johnston, 3 February 2026

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Praise for Timothy S. Johnston’s A Blanket of Steel

“Fans of Clive Cussler’s NUMA Files will be delighted with Timothy S. Johnston’s undersea novels. Truman McClusky and Dirk Pitt are cut from the same adventurer’s cloth.” — Nick Cutter, author of The Deep and The Troop

“Action that ranges from close range combat to torpedo-fueled attacks. The result is a thriller that keeps moving from confrontation to confrontation … with constant danger and the vast depths of the ocean as a setting, there is always reason to keep reading.” — Kirkus Reviews

“Read the book and prepare to be blown away by one of the best writers I have ever had the pleasure to read. Timothy S. Johnston is simply amazing.” — FIVE Stars from Readers’ Favorite

“A Blanket of Steel is not simply a ‘daring do’ thriller … It’s prescient.” — Amazing Stories

“A priority selection. An action-packed story that is hard to put down. A Blanket of Steel is outstanding.” — D. Donovan, Sr. Reviewer, Midwest Book Review

“Innovative technology, Mac taking risks no one else would dare and thinking his way through to brilliant solutions … But the stakes are higher than they’ve ever been before. This is it. The countdown to the final battle … Johnston does an excellent job of keeping the tension taut as he plays with the reader’s perceptions of characters we thought we knew and trusted …” — SFcrowsnest

“Expect to be left breathless. Trust me here. Please. I COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN.” — Michael Libling, author of The Serial Killer’s Son Takes A Wife and Hollywood North: A Novel in Six Reels

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A BLANKET OF STEEL is out now!

WATCH THE GRIPPING BOOK TRAILER HERE.

FOR PURCHASE OPTIONS CLICK HERE

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A Blanket of Steel from Timothy S. Johnston and Fitzhenry & Whiteside, Ltd.

Book Cover & Jacket Copy:

AN UNSTOPPABLE THREAT!

A mysterious assassin has murdered Cliff Sim, Chief Security Officer of the underwater colony, Trieste. Cliff was a mountain of a man, highly trained, and impossible to defeat in combat. And yet …

Someone brutally beat him and left his broken body in a secret Chinese facility at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean.

And included a calling card for Truman McClusky, Mayor of Trieste.

Taunting him.

Mac has led the underwater colonies in their fight against the world’s superpowers. Climate change has devastated the surface; nations suffer famine, drought, rebellion, rising waters, and apocalyptic coastal flooding. But now, as Mac leads the underwater colonies to freedom and independence, he’s faced with the gravest threat of his life: a Russian assassin, hellbent on killing Mac and everyone he cares for. Now Mac must uncover the identity of the killer, face him in combat, and at the same time lead people in battle against the largest underwater force ever assembled. It’s Mac’s final test, and to win the war, he must use every tool at his disposal, including the most surprising and devastating underwater weapons ever invented.

If Mac fails, all hope is lost for the future of human colonization on the ocean floors.

But the assassin could be anyone …

Watch your back, Mac.

A Blanket of Steel is the most gripping thriller yet in The Rise of Oceania.

FOR PURCHASE OPTIONS CLICK HERE

The other books in The Rise of Oceania series by Timothy S Johnston:

The War Beneath 9781771484718
The Savage Deeps 9781771485067
Fatal Depth 9781554555574
An Island of Light 9781554555819
The Shadow of War 9781554556007