Indian Ocean getting overwhelmed with massive carbon dioxide gasses from the atmosphere as earth gets hotter
The Indian Ocean is among the large seas that have been working extremely hard to absorb carbon dioxide from human activities taking place around the world, in the past ten years.
According to the new report by World Meteorological Organization (WMO), around 29 percent of the CO2 from human activities between 2015–2024 was absorbed by the ocean, leading to the continued decline in ocean surface pH.
Global average ocean surface pH, according to the WMO has declined over the past 41 years.
There is very high confidence that present-day surface pH values are unprecedented for at least 26,000 years, according to the IPCC.
Ocean pH changes show regional differences.
The largest decreases in regional surface pH are observed in the Indian Ocean, the Southern Ocean, the eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean, the northern tropical Pacific and some regions in the Atlantic Ocean.
Ocean acidification harms biodiversity, ecosystems and food production from shellfish aquaculture and fisheries.
Sea-ice extent
The annual average Arctic sea-ice extent for 2025 was the lowest or second lowest on record in the satellite era (1979), and the average Antarctic sea-ice extent for 2025 was the third lowest after 2023 and 2024.
The maximum daily extent of Arctic sea-ice (after the winter freeze) in 2025 was the lowest annual maximum in the observed record (since 1979) at about 14.19 million km2.
The annual minimum daily extent of Antarctic sea-ice (after the summer melt) tied for the second lowest in the observed record.
The past four years have seen the four lowest Antarctic sea ice minima on record.
World Meteorological Organization (WMO) points out that, greenhouse gas concentrations drive continued warming of the atmosphere and ocean and melting of ice.
“These rapid and large-scale changes have occurred within a few decades but will have harmful repercussions for hundreds – and potentially thousands – of years,” the new WMO report reveals.
The WMO State of Climate report confirms that the period between 2015 and 2025 has been the hottest 11 years on record, with 2025 being the second or third hottest year on record, at about 1.43 °C above the 1850-1900 average.
Earth’s energy imbalance on the other hand is highest in sixty five-year records.
Extreme weather impacts millions and costs billions.
The Extreme events around the world, including intense heat, heavy rainfall and tropical cyclones, caused disruption and devastation and highlighted the vulnerability of our inter-connected economies and societies.
The ocean continues to warm and absorb carbon dioxide.
It has been absorbing the equivalent of about eighteen times the annual human energy uses each year for the past two decades.
Annual sea ice extent in the Arctic was at or near a record low, Antarctic sea ice extent was the third lowest on record, and glacier melt continued unabated, according to the report.
“The State of the Global Climate is in a state of emergency. Planet Earth is being pushed beyond its limits. Every key climate indicator is flashing red,” said UN Secretary-General António Guterres, adding that humanity has just endured the eleven hottest years on record.
“When history repeats itself eleven times, it is no longer a coincidence. It is a call to act,” said Mr Guterres.
The WMO’s flagship State of the Global Climate report was released on World Meteorological Day on 23 March, which has the theme Observing Today, Protecting Tomorrow.
For the first time, the report includes the Earth’s energy imbalance as one of the key climate indicators.
The Earth’s energy balance measures the rate at which energy enters and leaves the Earth system.
Under a stable climate, incoming energy from the sun is about the same as the amount of outgoing energy.
However, increasing concentrations of heat-trapping greenhouse gases – carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide – to their highest level in at least 800,000 years have upset this equilibrium.
“The Earth’s energy imbalance and of the reality facing our planet and our climate right now,” said WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo.
“Human activities are increasingly disrupting the natural equilibrium and we will live with these consequences for hundreds and thousands of years.”
“On a day-to-day basis, our weather has become more extreme.
In 2025, heatwaves, wildfires, drought, tropical cyclones, storms and flooding caused thousands of deaths, impacted millions of people and caused billions in economic losses,” said Celeste Saulo.
The warming of the atmosphere including near the Earth’s surface (the temperatures that humans feel) represents just 1 percent of the excess energy, whilst about 5 percent is stored in the continental land masses.
More than 91 percent of the excess heat is stored in the ocean, which acts as a major buffer against higher temperatures on land.