Scientists warn that the seas surrounding New Zealand are warming much faster than the global average, highlighting the urgent impact of climate change on the island nation.

A government report, Our Marine Environment, revealed that New Zealand’s ocean waters are heating 34 percent faster than worldwide averages.

Rising temperatures, increasing acidity, and more frequent marine heatwaves are already threatening thousands of coastal homes as sea levels climb.

“Climate change is driving significant changes in our oceans,” the report said. “Ocean temperatures are rising, marine heatwaves are becoming more intense and longer-lasting, and sea-level rise is accelerating at many locations.”

Researchers linked this rapid warming to disruptions in ocean currents between New Zealand and Antarctica, along with changes in atmospheric circulation.

Shane Geange, marine advisor at the Department of Conservation, said, “Global warming is intensifying existing problems in our oceans.

We are witnessing faster sea-level rise, more severe marine heatwaves, and oceans becoming more acidic and losing oxygen.”

Sea-surface temperatures at four sites around New Zealand rose, on average, between 0.16C and 0.26C per decade between 1982 and 2023.

Many native species were struggling to adapt to life in warmer and more acidic oceans, the study found, and risked being overrun by invasive pests.

Warmer-than-normal sea temperatures have previously been linked to deaths of New Zealand’s native yellow-eyed penguins.

“Because of these findings, how we manage New Zealand’s marine environment needs to change,” said Geange.

“We now have enough evidence to take action, and delaying risks further harms to our marine ecosystems.”

Steadily rising sea levels were already being felt in many of New Zealand’s low-lying coastal hamlets, the report found.

More than 200,000 homes worth US$100 billion (NZ$180 billion) were found in areas at risk of coastal inundation and inland flooding.