BREST: The world's oceans absorbed a record amount of heat in 2025, an international team of scientists said on Friday (Jan 9), further priming conditions for sea level rise, violent storms, and coral death. The heat that has accumulated in the oceans last year increased by approximately 23 zettajoules - an amount equivalent to nearly four decades of global primary energy consumption. This finding - published in the journal Advances in Atmospheric Sciences - was the highest reading of any year