Global ice and sea surface temperature update

The global average sea surface temperature as of this week (solid black line) continues to run at record high levels for the observational period. Global warming and some help from a strengthening El Niño are clearly playing major roles.

The large area of well above-normal sea surface temperatures near the equator and west of South America is a clear indicator of a moderately strong El Niño. We also see a significant amount of abnormally warm sea surface water north of 30 degrees latitude.

If we just focus on the North Atlantic, you can clearly see the narrow, elongated areas of cooler-than-normal sea surface waters, which were caused by the wakes earlier hurricanes (Franklin and Idalia) that produced upwelling of cooler water to the surface. With time, these pockets of cooler-than-normal water will dissipate. Note how warm compared to normal the waters surrounding Atlantic Canada are at this present time. That may briefly change in about a week, as Lee will likely move northward through the region and cause significant upwelling in its wake.

Sea ice extent in the Northern Hemisphere continues to run well below the 1981-2010 average, but it is not quite as low as some recent years.

However, the Southern Hemisphere sea ice extent anomaly for 2023 (black dashed line) has trended upward but is still running at a record-low pace.