The ocean off California keeps breaking heat records

This is read by an automated voice.Please report any issues or inconsistencies here.

An extreme marine heat wave is simmering the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California, and experts are warning that it could affect coastal weather and ecosystems for months.The ocean heat wave started forming at the end of last year but has worsened in recent weeks, according to readings from the Scripps Pier in La Jolla, which has broken more than 25 daily temperature records so far this year.The surface water temperature on Wednesday was 68.5 degrees — 7.7 degrees above average for the date.

The sea bottom was 67.6 degrees, the hottest April 15 in about 100 years of records.The heat wave is deep, persistent and widespread, spanning from roughly San Francisco to the Mexican border.

Those are “pretty significant indicators that this has both staying power and will have consequences for weeks or months or even seasons to come for Southern California,” said Daniel Swain, a climate scientist with the University of California’s Agriculture and Natural Resources.There are several factors driving the staggering heat, including a unyielding ridge of high pressure straddling Southern California and weaker-than-normal coastal winds, which typically drive upwelling along the coast.

Upwelling is when cold, deep ocean water rises to the surface.But human-caused climate change is undoubtedly pushing the temperatures to new records, Swain said, noting that it takes many times more energy to heat ocean water than it does to heat air.

“From an ocean warmth perspective, we are now entering a pretty dramatic period” for this part of the world, he said.El Niño could drive the ocean warmth even higher in the months ahead.

The latest federal outlook includes a 61% chance that an El Niño will emerge between May and June and persist through at least the end of the year, with a 1 in 4 chance of a particularly strong El Niño.The tropical Pacific climate pattern is associated with ...