New record ocean temperatures and related climate indicators in 2023

The global physical and biogeochemical environment has been substantially altered in response to increased atmospheric greenhouse gases from human activities. In 2023, the sea surface temperature (SST) and upper 2000 m ocean heat content (OHC) reached record highs. The 0-2000 m OHC in 2023 exceeded that of 2022 by 15 +/- 10 ZJ (1 Zetta Joules = 10(21) Joules) (updated IAP/CAS data); 9 +/- 5 ZJ (NCEI/NOAA data). The Tropical Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea, and southern oceans recorded their highest OHC observed since the 1950s. Associated with the onset of a strong El Nino, the global SST reached its record high in 2023 with an annual mean of similar to 0.23 degrees C higher than 2022 and an astounding > 0.3 degrees C above 2022 values for the second half of 2023. The density stratification and spatial temperature inhomogeneity indexes reached their highest values in 2023.

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Related Dataset #1 : Argo float data and metadata from Global Data Assembly Centre (Argo GDAC)

Related Dataset #2 : Mediterranean Sea Physical Reanalysis INTERIM (CMEMS MED-Currents, E3R1i system)

Related Dataset #3 : Mediterranean Sea- In-Situ Near Real Time Observations
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Author Cheng, L.
Abraham, J.
Trenberth, Kevin E.
Boyer, T.
Mann, M. E.
Zhu, J.
Wang, F.
Yu, F.
Locarnini, R.
Fasullo, John T.
Zheng, F.
Li, Y.
Zhang, B.
Wan, L.
Chen, X.
Wang, D.
Feng, L.
Song, X.
Liu, Y.
Reseghetti, F.
Simoncelli, S.
Gouretski, V.
Chen, G.
Mishonov, A.
Reagan, J.
Von Schuckmann, K.
Pan, Y.
Tan, Z.
Zhu, Y.
Wei, W.
Li, G.
Ren, Q.
Cao, L.
Lu, Y.
Publisher UCAR/NCAR - Library
Publication Date 2024-01-11T00:00:00
Digital Object Identifier (DOI) Not Assigned
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Topic Category geoscientificInformation
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Metadata Date 2025-07-10T20:05:08.575910
Metadata Record Identifier edu.ucar.opensky::articles:27220
Metadata Language eng; USA
Suggested Citation Cheng, L., Abraham, J., Trenberth, Kevin E., Boyer, T., Mann, M. E., Zhu, J., Wang, F., Yu, F., Locarnini, R., Fasullo, John T., Zheng, F., Li, Y., Zhang, B., Wan, L., Chen, X., Wang, D., Feng, L., Song, X., Liu, Y., Reseghetti, F., Simoncelli, S., Gouretski, V., Chen, G., Mishonov, A., Reagan, J., Von Schuckmann, K., Pan, Y., Tan, Z., Zhu, Y., Wei, W., Li, G., Ren, Q., Cao, L., Lu, Y.. (2024). New record ocean temperatures and related climate indicators in 2023. UCAR/NCAR - Library. https://n2t.org/ark:/85065/d7v98d8k. Accessed 02 August 2025.

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