Oceans Hit Record High as El Niño Emerges as Strongest Ever
Ocean temperatures were 1.368 ± 0.068 °C (2.46 ± 0.12 °F) above the 1850–1900 average, a clear record for September and nominally the warmest month of any kind in the ocean record.
The Berkeley Earth monthly global temperature numbers show continued warming with a few striking points, notably a record high temperature for oceans, most likely related to the ongoing El Niño event, which has reached record strength, eclipsing 2015 and even the 1877 event, the largest on record.
We may be in the strongest El Niño event in 1000 years.
El Niño has reached record strength on the conventional Niño 3.4 index, and its peak is still expected later this year.
According to the report, “This El Niño is a very strong event whose characterics and evolution are likely similar to other very strong events by boosted in absolute terms by a warming ocean. However, the fact that the ocean is warmer today than in the past still has the potential to amplify the impacts to an intensity not seen in previous events.”
Striking high temperatures in France, reflecting an overall hot summer in Europe and the Mediterranean region.
Roughly 11.5% of Earth’s surface experienced its locally warmest September on record (about 9.3% of land and 12.7% of ocean surfaces), and 80.3% of the surface was warmer than average. The largest contiguous region of record warmth occurred in the Eastern tropical Pacific, where a record-breaking El Niño event is underway.
There is now a 96 percent chance that 2026 will be the warmest year on record, but almost certain to be blown away by what is coming in 2027.
September 2026 was the 2nd warmest September since records began in 1850, with a monthly global average of 1.65 ± 0.11 °C (2.96 ± 0.19 °F) above the 1850–1900 (pre-industrial) average. It sits about 0.06 °C below September 2023. The anomaly in September 2026 is nominally the third largest of any month, behind only September 2023 and August 2026.
