As IMO Marine Environment Protection Committee members meet this week to review GHG emissions measures for shipping, they may have a new factor to consider: average ocean surface temperatures have just reached the highest level since recordkeeping began, according to NOAA’s sea surface temperature average index. 

The difference from the long-term average for this time of year is small in absolute terms – a bit more than one degree Fahrenheit – and it only reflects temperature at the surface, not in deeper waters.