Satellites capture the largest ocean waves ever measured from space and reveal the power of ocean tides

It sounds like something out of a movie: satellites orbiting hundreds of miles above Earth captured ocean waves nearly 65 feet high — the tallest ever measured from space.

The discovery was made by the European Space Agency (ESA) during Storm Eddie, a massive weather system that tore across the open ocean in late December 2024. Using the SWOT satellite — a joint mission between France and the United States designed to study water levels and ocean topography — researchers detected wave heights that broke all previous records.

How satellites measured the monster waves

The measurement took place between December 21, 2024, and January 6, 2025, when Storm Eddie generated waves that traveled more than 15,000 miles (24,000 kilometers) across the globe.

ESA scientists explained that ocean waves form mainly through the force of wind. As air sweeps across the sea’s surface, it transfers energy to the water — much like blowing on a hot cup of coffee, but on a planetary scale. Over time, those small ripples combine and grow, forming larger and more powerful waves.

During a massive storm, that energy multiplies. Even when these tempests never reach land, their waves can travel for thousands of miles, carrying destructive force to faraway coastlines.

A record that changes how we see the ocean

The findings, published in the journal PNAS (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences), suggest that the most powerful waves created by Eddie held far more energy than scientists had ever estimated.

This research gives a window into the true power of storms that never make landfall, ESA scientists noted.

“These observations will be used to improve weather forecasting models and knowledge of extreme waves, which is important for offshore and coastal construction: swells have caused several casualties and extensive damage from Canada to Peru, thousands of kilometers away from Storm Eddie,” said Fabrice Ardhuin, lead author of the paper.

“It will be necessary to understand whether the proposed spectrum correction can be verified with other observations and whether it applies to all storms, not just the most intense ones,” he added.

What role does climate change play?

The next big question: how is climate change influencing these massive storms?

According to Ardhuin, a researcher at the Laboratory of Physical and Spatial Oceanography in France, global warming could be a key factor — but it’s not the only one.

“Climate change may be a driver, but it is not the only one. At the coast, seabed conditions also shape waves, for example,” Ardhuin explained. However, he cauationed that “these very large storms are rare—occurring roughly once a decade—which makes it hard to prove trends.”

Still, scientists warn that rising ocean temperatures are likely fueling more energetic storms and altering wave patterns, potentially reshaping coastlines and threatening vulnerable coastal communities in the years ahead.

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