About this data

Map measures and country details

• Sea-surface temperature

  Difference from average · °C

  NOAA Optimum Interpolation Sea Surface Temperature v2.1

  The timeline covers 2000–2024; the temperature reference is calculated from NOAA records for 1991–2020, including years before the visible timeline. Monthly sea-surface temperature is compared with the reference average for the same calendar month at each location. Annual values average these twelve monthly anomalies with calendar-day weights. A +1°C anomaly means 1°C warmer than the reference. Both use the same fixed 2° display grid, sampled from NOAA’s 0.25° grid, not a cell-area average. Each tile retains its original source point where complete; otherwise it uses the nearest complete ocean point within that same tile. The point stays fixed across all 408 source months, including the reference period. Its coordinates appear in the cell’s data notes and CSV. Arctic cells retain their actual locations and values through the pole. Uncolored water has no qualifying complete sample; it does not establish an absence of offshore observations. This describes sea-surface temperature, not total ocean heat or local coastal conditions. Monthly means do not show daily extremes or the temperature on an incident date.

• Marine wild catch

  tonnes

  FAO FishStat Global Capture Production

  Marine catch is summed by reporting country and year, in tonnes live weight. The reporting country generally follows the fishing vessel’s nationality, with some charter and joint-venture exceptions. The catch may come from waters elsewhere.

• Aquatic exports

  Country details only. These records cannot identify which catch became which exported product.

  Export value · constant 2024 USD

  FAO FishStat Trade of Aquatic Products

  Aquatic-product exports include wild-caught and farmed products. Annual values are adjusted to 2024 US dollars using BLS CPI-U: source value × 2024 CPI / source-year CPI. This measures export value, not fisher income, seafood prices, or export quantity.

Reading values and change

Value shows the selected year or month. In Annual view, Yearly change compares the selected year with the exact previous year. In Monthly view, Yearly change compares the same calendar month one year earlier, including 1999 when available for the start of the timeline. A place’s comparison control lets you choose a different baseline year; monthly comparisons retain the same calendar month in both years. Percentages require a positive, comparable baseline; temperature changes use degrees. Catch and exports remain annual totals in Monthly view. Report markers use the selected date in both modes; Yearly change applies only to numeric measures.

Annual and monthly ocean values use separate scales, each fixed across 2000–2024; the monthly scale covers all calendar months. Ocean colors use a neutral zero; values beyond the scale endpoints share the endpoint color. Country colors use ranges, with thresholds in the legend.

Missing is not zero. Comparable observations can include estimates or imputed figures. Partial or provisional values are shown with their quality notes; they do not support yearly-change comparisons. FAO may revise historical values.

Country totals and ocean samples describe different areas. Their changes may coincide, but this map cannot establish that one caused another.

Fishing areas and species

Country details retain the fishing-area and species breakdown of FAO marine catch. Their contributions reconcile to the national total. Selecting an area outlines its FAO statistical boundary and shows temperature samples and enabled reports inside it. Boundaries are simplified for display; they are not national waters or evidence of exact fishing locations. Unspecified marine areas remain in totals without an invented boundary.

Catch belongs to the whole reporting area. A drawn sea selection receives no apportioned catch. Exports are a separate country measure and include farmed products.

Environmental reports

Optional bloom markers use the HAEDAT v3.35 archive, with reports available for 2002–2024, licensed CC BY 4.0. Optional oil markers use NOAA IncidentNews, captured on 8 September 2026, with records explicitly classified as Oil for 2000–2024. IncidentNews is public domain and covers selected incidents supported by NOAA, primarily in US coastal waters, rather than a global spill census.

NOAA dates identify notification, not necessarily when a spill occurred. Maximum potential release is not measured discharge. Original observations, date precision, location notes and source identifiers remain in report details and CSVs. A date range appears in each overlapping year or month; this does not establish continuous harm.

Monthly view includes reports whose dated event or notification intervals overlap the selected month. Year-only reports remain in Annual view and are omitted from Monthly view because their month is unknown. The filter does not infer more precise dates.

Markers show reported locations, not event footprints. Area matching uses those points and can miss effects extending across a boundary. Counts reflect selective reporting, not comparable incidence or severity. Missing reports do not mean an absence of blooms, oil spills or environmental harm.

Selected sea areas

Drawing an area or entering coordinate bounds selects the display cells whose centers fall inside it. Source points can be offset within those cells. Annual means use samples complete across all 25 years; monthly means use samples complete across all 300 months. Within either resolution, the same samples are used for every date. Changing resolution can change which samples qualify. The mean weights each value by the cosine of its display-cell center’s latitude, following the NOAA regional weighting convention.

This is an estimate from the 2° sample grid. It does not clip coastal cells or calculate a precise polygon-area average. The CSV records the selection, included and excluded sample IDs, and source and aggregation methods.

Why the timeline ends in 2024

Data ends in 2024 because complete global fisheries production and trade statistics are released with a reporting lag. Currents stops at the latest complete, comparable year rather than mixing partial 2025–2026 observations into the timeline.