For Māori, the moana is not just water.
It is whakapapa.
It is a living ancestor.
And right now, that ancestor is carrying more heat than ever before.
New research shows that 2025 recorded the highest level of heat ever stored in the ocean since modern measurements began. The findings come from an international team of scientists, including renowned climate scientist Dr Kevin Trenberth, a New Zealander working with global research institutions.
To put it plainly – the ocean is absorbing heat at a scale almost beyond comprehension.
Scientists estimate that 23 zettajoules of heat were added to the upper two kilometres of the ocean in 2025 alone. That is the energy equivalent of hundreds of millions of Hiroshima-sized atomic bombs, or 200 times the world’s total electricity use in a year.
Dr Trenberth says the message is stark:
“The ocean is the hottest on record. We are creating a very different planet – do we really want to do that?”
For Māori, this is not abstract data.
This is lived reality.
When the ocean warms, sea levels rise, because warm water expands. That threatens coastal pā, marae, urupā, and entire communities who have lived alongside the moana for generations. Places where whakapapa is literally embedded in the land.
Warmer oceans also supercharge the weather. More heat means more moisture in the air – heavier rain, stronger storms, and more unpredictable extremes. We’ve felt it already.
Dr Trenberth says sea surface temperatures around Aotearoa were exceptionally high between December 2025 and January 2026, driven by the combination of La Niña and long-term global warming. He links this directly to the unstable, showery, and extreme weather many of us have experienced recently.
For our people, this means flooded homes, damaged whenua, disrupted kai gathering, and increasing pressure on already stretched whānau.
From a Māori perspective, this is a breach of kaitiakitanga – the responsibility handed down by our tīpuna to protect the natural world for future generations. The moana has been absorbing the consequences of human behaviour quietly, patiently, until now it can no longer do so without consequence.
The science tells us the ocean has been acting as a buffer – soaking up heat that would otherwise make the land even hotter. But that buffer has limits.
This research also raises concerns about the future of climate monitoring, noting uncertainty around space-based observations – a subtle warning that political decisions overseas could weaken our ability to properly track what is happening to the planet.
For Māori, the question is not just scientific. It is moral.
What does it mean to knowingly alter the balance of the natural world?
What does it mean for our mokopuna, who will inherit warmer seas, rising tides, and harsher storms?
Mātauranga Māori has always taught us that when the environment is out of balance, so too are the people.
The ocean is telling us something.
The question is whether those in power are prepared to listen – and act – before the cost is paid not just in data points, but in lives, culture, and whenua.
Because when the moana is in distress, we all are.
