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Scientists monitoring ocean conditions recorded the highest daily average sea su
Scientists monitoring ocean conditions recorded the highest daily average sea surface temperature in the satellite-era record on 22 August, with data from European climate services showing the reading reached 21.1 degrees Celsius. The previous record had been set in March 2024, making the new peak unusual both in its magnitude and its timing: globally averaged ocean temperatures normally reach their annual high point in late northern-hemisphere winter, not in late August. Researchers attribute the record to a combination of long-term ocean warming and the strengthening of an El Niño event in the Pacific, which forecasters now describe as likely to be very strong through the coming northern-hemisphere winter. The same El Niño conditions are linked to the severe wildfires affecting Southeast Asia and to drought warnings being issued for children and families across Eastern and Southern Africa. What changes in agriculture, fishing, weather or everyday life are people in your region already noticing that they associate with shifting ocean and atmospheric temperatures?