Toulouse: The tenth Ocean State Report, published on 1 October 2026 by the Copernicus Marine Service, documents faster sea level rise, shrinking Arctic ice and record marine heatwaves. Copernicus is the EU’s Earth observation programme, and its data reach back to 1960.
The Ocean State Report finds that the global average sea level has risen by about 4.2 millimetres per year since 2012. That pace is faster than in earlier decades of the record, and it puts low-lying coasts under steady pressure. Small island developing states face the sharpest exposure, since 65 percent of their combined exclusive economic zones have seen sea level rise accelerate since 1999.
In the Arctic, the extent of sea ice has fallen by roughly 490,000 square kilometres per decade between 1979 and 2025. That loss is comparable to the entire land area of Spain, and it keeps adding up with every decade. About 60 percent of Arctic coastal infrastructure is now vulnerable to erosion and sea level rise, which threatens ports, roads and settlements built on frozen ground.
The report also records unprecedented warmth in European seas. The Mediterranean and the Black Sea experienced marine heatwaves in 2024 in which temperatures exceeded normal levels by more than 4.6 degrees. Heatwaves of that size can damage seagrass meadows and shellfish beds, and they disturb the fish stocks that coastal communities depend on.
The Ocean State Report findings feed directly into EU policy on biodiversity and climate resilience. Policymakers use Copernicus data to design marine protection, to plan coastal defences and to measure progress on pollution targets. A reliable record is the foundation for each of those decisions.
The report also shows why the EU invests in long-term observation. The Copernicus Marine Service combines satellite measurements, ocean buoys and computer models into a single picture that governments, scientists and businesses can all use. Without that continuity, it would be impossible to tell a passing anomaly from a lasting trend.
For decision-makers, the Ocean State Report offers a practical message as well as a scientific one. Coastal regions need adaptation plans that assume higher seas and hotter water, and fisheries managers need to prepare for shifts in species ranges. Arctic states and companies that build there must weigh the erosion risk that the data now quantify.
The tenth edition of the Ocean State Report gives the EU a detailed baseline for those choices. It does not prescribe policy, but it supplies the numbers on which marine, climate and coastal policy will rely in the years ahead.
