From BBC Weather · · 2m
Super El Niño breaks sea temperature record weeks early
Ocean temperatures in the central Pacific have hit their highest level on record, weeks before El Niño is expected to peak in December.
In brief
Ocean temperatures in the central Pacific have hit their highest level on record, weeks before El Niño is expected to peak in December. El Niño has reached unprecedented ocean temperature records weeks ahead of its expected December peak, with global temperatures expected to remain unusually high into twenty…
Record ocean warmth weeks before peak
Australia's Bureau of Meteorology says average weekly sea-surface temperatures in the central Pacific have reached their highest level on record, weeks before El Niño's expected December peak.
September broke daily temperature record
Scientists declared a new record for daily sea surface temperatures in the central-eastern Pacific in September, exceeding the previous record set during the very strong El Niño of twenty fifteen.
Tropical Pacific hits thirty degrees
Temperatures above thirty degrees Celsius have been recorded for the first time in parts of the tropical Pacific, while record sea-surface temperature anomalies and exceptional subsurface warmth have been observed.
Climate change masks natural warming
The Pacific is warming due to human-induced climate change, which is starting to mask the strength of natural warming during El Niño.
Unprecedented warmth, says climate scientist
Dr Zeke Hausfather, a climate scientist at Berkeley Earth, told the BBC: we are currently witnessing an El Niño event that is unprecedented in the historical record.
“We are currently witnessing an El Niño event that is unprecedented in the historical record.”
Warmth spreading beyond normal region
The warmth across the Pacific now extends well beyond the tropical region normally used to monitor El Niño.
Drought and floods already emerging
El Niño's influence is already being felt across parts of the world. The World Meteorological Organisation says drought and flood-related disruption is already being reported in several regions, with growing concerns over food security in…
Record warmth expected through twenty twenty-seven
El Niño releases additional heat from the oceans into the atmosphere. Combined with human-driven climate change, that extra heat is expected to help make twenty twenty-six one of the warmest years on record, with unusually…
The bottom line
El Niño has reached unprecedented ocean temperature records weeks ahead of its expected December peak, with global temperatures expected to remain unusually high into twenty twenty-seven.
