The world’s oceans just experienced their hottest June on record and could set fresh highs in the months ahead as El Nino and climate change drive temperatures even higher, scientists said on July 1.
Global average sea surface temperatures in June were 20.98 degrees Celsius, beating the previous records of 2023 and 2024, according to the European Union’s Copernicus Marine Service.
The record capped six months of near unprecedented ocean warmth in 2026, with prolonged marine heatwaves, the service said. Average sea temperatures in the first half of the year were 20.04 degrees, slightly below the high set in the same period in 2024.
And scientists said the onset of a potentially powerful El Nino weather pattern could boost global heat in the oceans and atmosphere even further in 2026 and into next year.
“Current conditions could indicate the beginning of a new phase, leading, once more, to uncharted territory,” said Carlo Buontempo, director of Copernicus Climate Change Service, the EU’s climate monitor.
“With ocean temperatures at these levels and El Nino on the horizon, we are likely to see more temperature records fall in the coming months,” Buontempo said in a statement.
El Nino is marked by unusually warm waters in parts of the Pacific Ocean, releasing more heat into the atmosphere and influencing wind, cloud and weather patterns around the globe.
This can raise the risk of weather extremes ranging from floods in Peru to droughts in parts of Africa and wildfires in Australia.
But it can also cause a temporary spike in global temperatures, compounding the long-term warming caused by humanity’s burning of fossil fuels.
Land and sea temperatures reached an all-time high in 2024 at the tail end of the last El Nino.
“With the arrival and the onset of an El Nino year, we can expect that 2026 will be amongst the warmest [ever] recorded,” Simon Van Gennip, lead Oceanographer for the Copernicus Marine Service, said in a news briefing.
“This is due to El Nino, but also from the warming due to the greenhouse gas emissions we continue to provide for the atmosphere,” Van Gennip said.
The report follows a warning issued in a major U.N. scientific assessment last month which declared that the world’s oceans were in a “deepening crisis” as seas were warming and rising faster.
Oceans are a key regulator of Earth’s climate because they absorb some 90 percent of the excess heat caused by humanity’s release of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide.
Warmer oceans increase moisture in the atmosphere, providing fuel for tropical cyclones and destructive rainfall.
Hotter seas also directly contribute to sea level rise, as water expands when it warms up, and create unbearable conditions for tropical reefs, whose corals can bleach and die during prolonged marine heat waves.
The first six months of the year were marked by widespread marine heat waves that affected around 82 percent of the world’s oceans, the second-largest extent after 2024, according to Copernicus Marine Service.
