The ocean is losing its ability to store heat as the planet warms up

The ocean’s ability to absorb heat into its depths appears to be rapidly declining, leading to prolonged marine heatwaves, increased ocean warming and greater stress on marine ecosystems. The loss of this vital cooling mechanism suggests we could be entering a new phase of climate change.

Hajoon Song at Yonsei University in Seoul, South Korea, and his colleagues used satellite data spanning four decades to track how sea surface temperatures (SSTs) have evolved over time.