El Nino pushes global monthly mean ocean temp to all-time high

El Nino has put oceans on an uncharted path since April with global monthly mean ocean temperatures currently at an all-time high relative to temperatures since records started to be kept, and potentially extending even further into the past.

- Jayashree Nandi

Around 27% of the global ocean was experiencing a marine heatwave as of August 15 according to an assessment by ocean scientists associated with World Meteorological Organisation's (WMO) World Climate Research Programme.

Sea surface temperatures (SSTs) observed since April show a far sharper spike than the warming over land especially when compared with the long-term mean for the 1982 to 2011 period as tracked by University of Maine's Climate Reanalyzer. The global average SST on Sunday (September 10) was 21.1°C compared to 20.7°C on the same day last year. The average land air temperature on September 11 was 16.65°C compared to 16.11°C on the same day last year.