We’re in really hot water now, annual check-up on Earth’s climate reveals

The world is in increasingly hot and rising water, scientists say in their annual, detailed physical of Earth’s climate. Ocean surface temperatures were the warmest in 135 years of records, with the seas holding record levels of heat energy down to 2,300ft below the surface, they report. Sea level also hit modern highs, partly because warmer water expands, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the American Meteorological Society. Their annual state of the climate report, released Thursday, delves into the details of already reported record-smashing warmth globally in 2014, giving special attention to the world’s oceans.

If we were to freeze greenhouse gases at their current levels, the seas would actually continue to warm for centuries to millennia.

Greg Johnson of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory

Many places, such as Europe, not only had record heat on average, but record patches of extreme heat. The findings are contained in the 2014 State of the Climate report, a peer-reviewed study that examines temperature, precipitation and weather events around the world. A total of 413 scientists from 58 countries contributed to the report.

Science climate change