The surface of the oceans has just experienced its warmest month of May ever recorded. This warming causes "unprecedented cascading effects" such as melting ice, rising sea levels, ocean heat waves and ocean acidification.
May was the second warmest globally, as we see the El Niño signal continuing to emerge in the equatorial Pacific, says the European Copernicus service. The ocean, like a sponge, has absorbed about 90% of the increase in heat caused by human activities.