Korea’s seas are warming more than twice as fast as the global ocean
The waters around South Korea are warming at a rate more than double the global average, according to the Korea Meteorological Administration. Over the past decade, marine heatwave days have increased by a factor of 3.7, while sea surface temperatures have risen by 0.7 degrees Celsius. This is more than twice the global increase of 0.3 degrees over the same period.
The Korea Meteorological Administration analyzed observations collected from 2016 to 2025 and compared them with global sea surface temperature data and 1991-2020 climate averages. The East Sea, or the Sea of Japan, has seen an especially pronounced warming, with its average sea surface temperature 0.8°C above the long-term average and marine heatwaves occurring for an average of 96.1 days per year.
Even under low-emissions scenarios, ocean warming is expected to persist for a long time, with sea surface temperatures around Korea projected to rise by 1.5°C under SSP1-2.6 and 2.2°C under SSP2-4.5 by the end of the century.
Written by urgent.news from The Hankyoreh's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
