A report by the United Nations (UN), released this Monday (8), concluded that the situation of the oceans is serious and demands urgent and coordinated responses between governments, researchers, the private sector, multilateral organizations and coastal communities. The third cycle of the World Ocean Assessment (WOA-3), the main multidisciplinary analysis of the state of the oceans, brought together more than 550 scientists and other experts from 86 countries. WOA-3 data mainly refers to the period between 2018 and 2023. Related news: El Niño: UN asks the world to prepare for the risk of extreme heat. Blue carbon gains space on the ocean climate agenda. Researchers warn about the impact of mercury pollution of the ocean. The document warns that several critical indicators of the health of the ocean have worsened significantly since the last edition of the study, published in 2022, including warming, sea level rise, loss of polar ice, biodiversity, fisheries and marine pollution. This is the most extensive version since the series of reports was launched in 2017. The report highlights the movement of marine species to colder waters; increasing impacts of marine heatwaves on fisheries; and increasing vulnerability of ocean-dependent coastal communities. “The ocean is the main shock absorber of the climate crisis, but signs of stress are becoming increasingly evident, harming its role in climate regulation,” said professor Ronaldo Christofoletti, from the Federal University of São Paulo (Unifesp), one of the Brazilian co-authors of the report. The impacts for Brazil include greater coastal vulnerability, risks to coastal cities, pressure on fishing and an increase in extreme events associated with the tropical Atlantic. “What we see in the new report is that phenomena previously considered exceptional are becoming recurrent, including potential impacts on the Brazilian coast, fishing, coral reefs and coastal populations”, explained the professor. WOA-3 showed that the ocean has entered a phase of accelerated warming and that extreme weather phenomena have started to occur at a greater rate in the marine environment in recent years. According to the report, the rate of rise in global average sea level reached 4.3 millimeters (mm) per year in the period between 2013 and 2023. In the previous report, which was based on the period between 1993 and 2018, the rise rate was approximately 3.2 mm/year. There was also a worsening of changes in the polar oceans, with an accelerated decline after 2016, reaching record levels of melting in the years 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025. Experts warn that changes in polar ice have global impacts on ocean circulation, climate, biodiversity and sea level rise. The document pointed out a strong expansion in the impacts of plastic pollution on marine biodiversity. While the previous report recorded around 1,400 species affected by plastic, the new study points out more than 4,000 impacted species. Experts warn that plastic pollution is no longer just a coastal or visual problem but is now posing a growing threat to biodiversity, food and global environmental health. According to Ronaldo Christofoletti, in Brazil, the problem is directly related to insufficient sanitation, urban waste, coastal pollution and contamination of beaches and rivers. Furthermore, fisheries and food security continue to be under increasing pressure. The previous report showed that around 64.6% of fishing stocks remained biologically sustainable in 2019. The most recent document shows a drop to 62.3% in 2021.