Level 2 — Heat accumulation · co2matters.net
Heat absorbed by the oceans each year
The oceans absorb 90% of the excess energy trapped by the greenhouse effect. This measure, more reliable than atmospheric temperature, reveals the real scale of the energy imbalance.
How to read this chart: each bar represents the additional thermal energy absorbed by the top 2,000 meters of the world's oceans over the year. 1 ZJ (zettajoule) = 10²¹ joules. Global electricity consumption is roughly 29,000 TWh/year ≈ 0.104 ZJ/year.
In 2025, the oceans absorbed 23 ZJ — equivalent to 220 times annual global electricity consumption, in a single year. Ninth consecutive record since 2017.
Source: Pan et al. (2026), Advances in Atmospheric Sciences · IAP/CAS · DOI: 10.1007/s00376-026-5876-0
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