The Ocean as Earth's Thermostat: Why It No Longer Cools the Planet and Is Becoming a "Warm Blanket" 

For millennia, the world's oceans have played an irreplaceable role in maintaining the planet’s climate stability. Acting as Earth’s thermostat, the ocean absorbs and gradually releases vast amounts of heat. Water has a unique heat capacity, which allows it to heat up more slowly and retain heat much longer than air. This property moderates daily and seasonal temperature fluctuations, maintaining a balance essential for life. Ocean currents circulate heat and nutrients around the globe, while evaporation from the ocean surface contributes to cloud formation and rainfall, providing fresh water to land and producing nearly 50% of the oxygen we breathe. These oceanic functions are vital.

However, the ocean itself is now under threat, and its thermoregulatory capacity is breaking down. Recent data show that 2023 and 2024 were the hottest years on record, with Earth’s temperature reaching unprecedented levels. Since 2020, the ocean has been heating 450% faster than over the previous 30 years. Scientists estimate that this rapid warming requires an energy input equivalent to the detonation of seven Hiroshima-sized atomic bombs every second for a full year. The question arises: where is this colossal energy coming from?

The Plastic "Soup" and Disrupted Heat Conductivity

One of the key drivers of this anomaly is the unprecedented pollution of the world’s oceans—particularly plastic waste. The total surface area of floating plastic debris is now comparable to the combined landmass of the United States and Australia. Each year, approximately 11 million tons of plastic enter the marine environment.

Once in the water, plastic waste doesn’t fully biodegrade but breaks down under sunlight, salt, waves, and wind into smaller and smaller fragments—microplastics and eventually nanoplastics. Nanoplastics are the final degradation stage: microscopic particles that retain the original polymer structure of plastic. They easily penetrate living tissue and spread throughout the water column, forming what scientists now call the “plastic soup.”

These particles are disrupting the ocean’s thermal conductivity. Due to their specific chemical makeup, micro- and nanoplastics hinder water’s ability to transfer heat. Nanoplastic molecules can interfere with water’s hydrogen bonds, forming “hydration shells” around them. These bound water molecules become less mobile, lowering the overall heat capacity of water. As a result, polluted water warms and cools faster than clean water. Thus, instead of releasing excess heat, the ocean is becoming a “warm blanket” for a planet in desperate need of cooling.

Geodynamic Activity as an Additional Heat Source

The ocean’s surface represents only about 1% of the total water volume. So what is happening in the other 99%? Studies show that mid-ocean depths have warmed 15 times faster over the past 60 years than over the previous 10,000. Since sunlight cannot reach these depths, this warming demands an immense energy input.

Scientists are increasingly exploring the hypothesis that geological processes may be significantly impacting climate systems and ocean warming. The ocean floor hosts more than 10 million geological structures, including volcanoes, faults, and hydrothermal vents.

Since 1995, there has been a surge in undersea earthquakes along mid-ocean ridges, which correlates with the global rise in temperatures. This suggests that seismic and volcanic activity may be intensifying hydrothermal emissions, contributing to oceanic heating.

Special attention is being given to the Siberian magmatic plume, which is reportedly becoming more active. This massive column of molten material, rising from the mantle’s depths, may be causing abnormal warming of the Arctic seas, which are heating nearly four times faster than the global average. The ocean's absorption and retention of heat from this plume, especially through thinned oceanic crust, amplifies the warming of Earth’s entire system.

Historical records indicate that Earth experiences catastrophic climate cycles every 12,000 years, with more extreme events occurring every 24,000 years. Current evidence suggests we may be entering one of the more destructive phases compared to 12,000 years ago.

Consequences and Possible Solutions

The combination of micro- and nanoplastic pollution and intensifying geodynamic activity is driving catastrophic consequences:

• Anomalous increase in natural disasters: More frequent and powerful floods, typhoons, hurricanes, squalls, abnormal precipitation, and hailstorms.
  
  

• Ocean deoxygenation: Declining oxygen levels are creating marine “dead zones.”
  
  

• Rising sea levels, threatening coastal regions.
  
  

• Impact on Earth’s magnetic field: Ocean and atmospheric pollution may alter the chemical and electrical properties of water, potentially leading to local anomalies in the magnetic field.
  
  

The situation is reaching a critical point, but solutions do exist. One of the key strategies is the mass deployment of Atmospheric Water Generators (AWGs). These devices can extract clean drinking water from the air, filtering out pollutants, including micro- and nanoplastics, carbon dioxide, and methane. Widespread use of AWGs can help purify both the atmosphere and oceans, restoring their thermal conductivity functions. This, in turn, could reduce atmospheric humidity, lessen the strength of hurricanes, and decrease the frequency of extreme rainfall.

In addition to AWGs, we must:

• Transition completely to atmospheric water, ending the extraction of surface and groundwater.
  
  

• Rebuild sewage infrastructure to return used water to soil systems for natural filtration and microbial degradation of nanoplastics.
  
  

• Implement fuel-free energy generators to power AWGs affordably and sustainably.
  
  

• Conduct controlled degassing of the Siberian magmatic plume, to release pressure from the magmatic system and reduce global heat buildup.
  
  

Only through the united efforts of scientists, policymakers, businesses, and the public at an international level can humanity overcome this global challenge. Embracing AWG technology and restoring Earth’s natural cycles could buy us precious time to halt accelerating catastrophes and preserve the planet for future generations.