\u201cThis would indicate a very high likelihood that we will be breaking new global temperature records in just a few months,\u201d Labe said. <\/p>\n
While California escaped oppressive heat conditions this weekend, officials issued a heat advisory for Tuesday through Thursday, when temperatures could hit 90 to 103 degrees across inland areas of Los Angeles, Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties.<\/p>\n
Beyond California, scientists are raising alarms over the planet\u2019s warming oceans, which \u2014 coupled with a strong El Ni\u00f1o \u2014 could increase temperatures for land dwellers in the coming weeks. <\/p>\n
On Wednesday, officials confirmed that the global sea surface temperature in June hit a record<\/a> for this time of year. <\/p>\n \u201cCurrent conditions could indicate the beginning of a new phase, leading, once more, to uncharted territory. With ocean temperatures at these levels and El Ni\u00f1o on the horizon, we are likely to see more temperature records fall in the coming months,\u201d said Carlo Buontempo, director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service, an arm of the European Union. <\/p>\n Warming ocean waters have wide-ranging effects, scientists say. They can provide extra energy to storms and increase evaporation, boosting the chance for extreme precipitation and flooding; contribute to sea level rise; exacerbate ice melt and stress marine ecosystems, according to a statement<\/a> from the Copernicus Climate Change Service and Copernicus Marine Service. <\/p>\n Federal officials last month officially declared the arrival of El Ni\u00f1o, and said there was an 88% chance that the climate pattern would<\/a> be either \u201cstrong\u201d or \u201cvery strong\u201d by the end of the year.<\/p>\n El Ni\u00f1o describes a pattern characterized by warmer water in the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean. The effect enhances a weakening of the typical east-to-west trade winds, allowing even more warm water to pool in that area of the ocean, reaching the coast of Mexico, Central America and northern South America \u2014 as well as coastal Southern California. <\/p>\n Typically, El Ni\u00f1o is associated with wetter-than-normal conditions during the winter in Southern California. Of the last four \u201cvery strong\u201d El Ni\u00f1os in the global record, three \u2014 1982-83, 1991-92 and 1997-98 \u2014 brought above-average rain to Southern California. <\/p>\n El Ni\u00f1o is expected to prolong<\/a> an existing unrelated marine heat wave that would otherwise typically start fading between October and December, scientists say. Such a prolonged period of higher-than-normal ocean temperatures can wreak havoc on wildlife.<\/p>\n A map of two marine heat waves \u2014 currently unrelated to El Ni\u00f1o \u2014 off the California coast and farther west in the Pacific Ocean.<\/p>\n (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration)<\/p>\n Much of the U.S. is already baking under searing heat \u2014 even though El Ni\u00f1o is not yet in full force. <\/p>\n An extreme heat warning was in effect through Independence Day weekend across portions of the Midwest, South and Northeast, with New York City\u2018s Central Park reaching 100 on Thursday, the hottest temperature recorded there since July 18, 2012. <\/p>\n The story is much the same in other areas of the world. <\/p>\n Europe has baked under a historic, extraordinary heat wave recently<\/a>, according to the World Meteorological Organization, with Germany breaking all-time temperature records<\/a> and nights bringing little relief. <\/p>\n \u201cExtreme heat is one of the most serious and rapidly growing threats to health and safety posed by climate change,\u201d Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization, said<\/a> in June. \u201cIt claims around half a million lives globally each year, yet many of these deaths are preventable.\u201d<\/p>\n More than 1,300 excess deaths recorded for the week that ended June 28 were linked to high temperatures in Europe, according to<\/a> Tedros. <\/p>\n \u201cDriven by climate change and global warming, the phenomenon of the \u2018once-in-a-generation\u2019 heatwave is now occurring nearly [annually],\u201d he wrote on X. \u201cWe were warned.\u201d<\/p>\n In general, the global average temperature has already increased by 1.8 degrees, or 1 degree Celsius, since the preindustrial period, according to NASA, and is increasing by more than 0.36 degrees per decade. Global climate change \u2014 which is exacerbated by human activities such as the burning of fossil fuels \u2014 is expected<\/a> to increase U.S. sea levels, cause hurricanes to become stronger and more intense, decrease water supplies in the West and Southeast, contribute to more-intense droughts and heat waves, and extend and intensify wildfire season. <\/p>\n Areas of France, Britain, Austria and the Netherlands have issued red alerts or warnings on account of the extreme heat. According to the Associated Press, Berlin police used water cannons \u2014 normally used to disperse protesters \u2014 to cool down cheering crowds in front of the Brandenburg Gate. It\u2019s so hot in Germany, the AP said, that the concrete on highways is breaking up, and officials urged people to avoid unnecessary train travel. <\/p>\n The temperatures were so hot in France that the lack of air conditioning in many parts of hospitals is posing a health risk. One hospital had rooms that were so hot patients needed to be moved to an air-conditioned waiting room, Reuters reported<\/a>. <\/p>\n The heat has become so unbearable in Japan that weather officials in April announced a new<\/a> term for days when maximum temperatures exceed 104 degrees \u2014 kokushobi, meaning harsh or cruel heat, according to the Japan Times. <\/p>\n In Taiwan, extreme heat has prompted officials to simulate a disaster scenario involving three consecutive days of temperatures hitting 104 degrees, power outages, heat illnesses, deformed roads, garbage fires and a forced reduction in railway speeds, according to the island\u2019s Central News Agency<\/a>. <\/p>\n Japan and Hong Kong reported their second-warmest springs on record, Africa had its fourth-warmest May on record and extreme heat in India and Pakistan has become deadly, with temperatures exceeding 113 degrees in many spots, the National Centers for Environmental Information said<\/a>. The Arctic Ocean also saw its second-lowest sea ice extent for the month of May. <\/p>\n To prepare California for more periods of extreme heat, the state now has a tool, CalHeatScore<\/a>, that offers an \u201cextreme heat scoring system\u201d with five numerical levels. The tool also offers people a list of resources like cooling centers. <\/p>\n![\"Map](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1783334830_545_.png\")
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