This is anything but a surprise, but the finding is once again alarming.

The oceans, which absorb most of the heat caused by global warming, recorded record heat last year, according to a study published on Wednesday by an international team of scientists.

“The oceans continue to warm on a global scale,” conclude the authors in an article published by the journal

Advances in atmospheric sciences.

“The inexorable rise in ocean temperatures is the inevitable result of an energy imbalance on Earth, associated first and foremost with a growing concentration of greenhouse gases,” write the 24 researchers, including from American, Chinese and Italian.

Records set every year

The oceans absorb more than 90% of the excess heat caused by greenhouse gases emitted by human activity.

“The global warming trend is so steady and robust that annual records continue to be set every year,” they point out.

They thus established that the total heat contained in the oceans between the surface and 2,000 meters in depth has never been as high as last year, with the addition of approximately 10 zettajoules in 2022. Ten zettajoules correspond to one joule.

This figure equates to about 100 times the world's electricity generation last year.

Increasingly salty waters

This phenomenon is also accompanied by an increase in salinity and stratification (the separation of water into different layers) of the oceans.

These two phenomena can alter the exchanges of heat, carbon and oxygen between the oceans and the atmosphere, in turn affecting marine life and water cycles.

“Global warming continues and is manifested by record heat in the oceans but also by extremes in terms of salinity,” commented Lijing Cheng, the lead author of the study.

“This last point highlights the fact that salty areas are getting saltier and saltier,” he explains.



“This warming will continue until we reach carbon neutrality and we will thus continue to break records for heat contained in the oceans, predicted recalled Michael Mann, professor at the University of Pennsylvania and co-author of the 'study.

A better awareness and knowledge of the oceans form the basis of actions to combat climate change”.

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