Called a Kelvin wave, scientists have identified a massive pool of warm water in the Pacific carrying temperatures up to 13.5 degrees Fahrenheit above average in similar parts of the ocean. As the Wall Street Journal notes, that's a major heat wave as far as the ocean is concerned, as deep water temperature patterns take much longer to shift than they would on land.
Where this ocean surface warming exceeds 2°C (3.6°F), the event is often referred to as a 'super El Niño'. Now, the Copernicus Climate Change Service has revealed that April 2026 saw the second highest sea surface temperatures on record. Measurements last month show that the daily average over the extra-polar regions inched toward the record values seen in 2024. According to the experts, this suggests super El Niño conditions could be here in the 'coming months'.
"Every year about this time, females are coming back from their open ocean migrations to give birth somewhere in Southern California, and then those baby white sharks show up at our beaches. What made this year unusual is that we started seeing newborns in February, which is really early. Normally, it starts in April and peaks in July."
The crowd atop the Hermosa Beach Pier watched with bated breath as a local fisherman, stripped down to his underwear and armed with only a pair of scissors, waded into the water in an attempt to free a juvenile great white shark.
Last summer's Club World Cup made clear the difficulties of playing football at some of the hottest times of day in some of the United States' toastier, sweatier climates. Substitutes had to stay inside in their air-conditioned dressing rooms at some games, while others were delayed due to extreme weather.
