09/10/2026
🌊🌡️ The ocean is getting hotter. The impacts are getting harder to ignore.
Marine heatwaves are long periods of unusually warm ocean temperatures.
They are becoming more frequent and more intense, putting marine life, coastlines and communities under growing pressure.
Rising ocean temperatures are also contributing to sea-level rise, which has averaged around 4.2 mm per year since 2012.
The consequences are already being felt around the world:
⚠️ 490,000 km² of Arctic sea ice has been lost every decade between 1979 and 2025, an area almost as large as Spain.
⚠️ The Mediterranean and Black Sea experienced record-breaking marine heatwaves, with temperatures more than 4.6 degrees above normal in 2024.
⚠️ Sea communities have become more vulnerable as rising seas and warming waters put ecosystems, infrastructure, and livelihoods at risk.
A marine heatwave is still a heatwave — with consequences that reach far beyond the water.
Check out the latest State of the Ocean report: https://link.europa.eu/4HTgb8
