Record High Temperatures in the Ocean in 2024

CISESS
January 21, 2025
Highlights

ESSIC/CISESS Scientist Alexey Mishonov recently published a paper titled “Record High Temperatures in the Ocean in 2024” in the journal Advances in Atmospheric Sciences.

Analyzing many observational and reanalysis datasets from major independent international data centers, Mishonov and his colleagues report on the global ocean state in 2024, focusing on the ocean heat content (OHC) in the top 2000-m layer of the ocean and the sea-surface temperature (SST). Both OHC and SST reached record-level highs in 2024 in response to increased greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere.

Of note, the global upper 2000-m OHC was the highest ever recorded by modern instruments, about 16 Zetta Joules higher than the value in 2023. The 2024 annual mean global SST was 0.05°C–0.07°C higher than in 2023 and a new record for the instrumentation era. Regions with record-high OHC included the Indian Ocean, the tropical Atlantic, the Mediterranean Sea, the North Atlantic, the North Pacific, and the Southern Ocean, leading to wide-ranging impacts, such as marine heatwaves, global mean sea-level rise, ocean deoxygenation, and extreme weather and ocean events. Modern climate models point toward a continued increasing trend in OHC.

Mishonov is a researcher with extensive experience in various fields of oceanography, including ocean color, water transmissivity and particulate organic carbon study, oceanographic data management, analysis, and climate research.

To access the paper, click here: “Record High Temperatures in the Ocean in 2024”.

This article was put together by the CISESS coordinators based on scientist input.

Debra Baker

Debra Baker is the Coordinator for the Cooperative Institute for Satellite Earth System Studies (CISESS) at the University of Maryland. She received her M.S. in atmospheric science from the University of Maryland, College Park. Before joining ESSIC in 2013, she worked on air quality issues at the Maryland Department of the Environment. Debra also has a law degree from Harvard Law School.

Kate Cooney

Katherine Cooney is a part-time faculty assistant at the Cooperative Institute for Satellite Earth System Studies (CISESS). Kate received a B.S. in environmental science and policy from the University of Maryland (UMD), College Park. She later earned a M.S. in geology from UMD, while investigating the isotopic fractionation of precipitation nitrate under the guidance of Distinguished University Professor James Farquhar. After graduation, she worked as an air-quality specialist at the Mid Atlantic Regional Air Management Association in Baltimore, Maryland. While her family was stationed in Tokyo, Japan, she dedicated her time serving military families and the local community. She is grateful for the opportunity to return to earth system studies, supporting the CISESS Business Office and assisting the CISESS Coordinator Deb Baker since January 2021.