Climate change: World's oceans suffer from record-breaking year of heat

Watch - 'If I were a barnacle I'd be worried' - a marine biologist talks to BBC News Climate Editor Justin Rowlatt about ocean warming

Fuelled by climate change, the world's oceans have broken temperature records every single day over the past year, a BBC analysis finds.

Copernicus also confirmed that last month was the warmest April on record in terms of air temperatures, extending that sequence of month-specific records to 11 in a row.

For many decades, the world's oceans have been the Earth's 'get-out-of-jail card' when it comes to climate change.

Not only do they absorb around a quarter of the carbon dioxide that humans produce, they also soak up around 90% of the excess heat.

But over the past year, the oceans have displayed the most concerning evidence yet that they are struggling to cope, with the sea surface particularly feeling the heat.

From March 2023, the average surface temperature of the global oceans started to shoot further and further above the long-term norm, hitting a new record high in August.

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