Global ocean temperatures have hit their highest daily average ever recorded, in a worrying sign that Super El Niño is ramping up.
The Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) confirmed that sea surface temperatures (SSTs) outside of the polar regions reached a sweltering 21.1°C (69.98°F) on August 22.
That surpassed the previous record set in March 2024, when daily average temperatures reached their peak at 21.09°C (69.96°F).
It also makes August 22 the hottest August day for the world’s oceans since records began, beating the previous record set in 2023.
This comes as a growing Super El Niño develops in the tropical Pacific, driving a
To provide well-rounded coverage and a breadth of insight across various events, we rely on contributions from several staff writers, each bringing their own area of expertise to our publication.