Global oceans logged their hottest June on record, EU monitors say
The EU’s Copernicus climate service reported that June 2026 was the warmest month on record for the world’s oceans , with global average sea-surface temperatures of 21.0°C (69.8°F), surpassing the previous highs set in 2023 and 2024. Across the first half of 2026, marine heatwaves affected roughly 82% of the global ocean, with the sharpest anomalies in the Mediterranean, the central North Atlantic, and the equatorial Pacific.
Scientists said further records are likely as a developing El Niño — a pattern of unusually warm Pacific waters — pushes temperatures higher into 2027. Warmer seas carry practical consequences: they add atmospheric moisture that can intensify tropical cyclones, drive sea-level rise through thermal expansion, and trigger coral bleaching. The readings extend a run of ocean heat that has now persisted, with brief interruptions, for more than two years.