El Niño and warming oceans are pushing California, planting it in the ‘unbeaten zone’.

As extreme heat blanketed the eastern United States over the Fourth of July weekend and Europe struggled with its own deadly heat wave, experts warned that the highest temperatures could be recorded this year due to the strengthening of El Niño.

“We know that temperatures are warming over time, related to human-caused climate change, and El Niño boosts those temperatures temporarily,” climate scientist Zachary Labe of the nonprofit Climate Central said at a recent briefing.

Between June 2025 and April, Labe said, global average temperatures were about 1.8 to 2.7 degrees above pre-Industrial Revolution levels. But average forecast models suggest global average temperatures could be much higher this winter – perhaps as much as 3.24 to 3.42 degrees above pre-Industrial Revolution levels.

“This can show that there are many chances that we will break new world temperature records in just a few months,” said Labe.

While California escaped oppressive heat this weekend, officials issued a heat advisory Tuesday through Thursday, when temperatures could reach 90 to 103 degrees in the inland areas of Los Angeles, Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo.

Beyond California, scientists are sounding the alarm about the warming of the planet’s oceans, which – combined with a strong El Niño – could increase the temperature of the inhabitants of the earth in the coming weeks.

On Wednesday, officials confirmed that global sea temperatures in June reached a record for this time of year.

“The current conditions may indicate the beginning of a new phase, leading, again, to an unknown place. With sea temperatures at these levels and El Niño on the horizon, we will probably see many temperature records falling in the coming months,” said Carlo Buontempo, director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service, an arm of the European Union.

Warmer ocean waters have a variety of effects, scientists say. They can give more strength to storms and increase evaporation, increasing the chance of heavy rain and flooding; impact on sea level rise; increase the melting of ice and stress the marine environment, according to a statement from the Copernicus Climate Change Service and the Copernicus Marine Service.

Government officials last month officially announced the arrival of El Niño, and said there was an 88% chance the weather would be “strong” or “very severe” by the end of the year.

El Niño describes a pattern characterized by warm water in the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean. The result is a weakening of the prevailing trade winds from east to west, allowing even warmer water to converge in that area of ​​the ocean, reaching the coast of Mexico, Central America and northern South America – and the coast of Southern California.

Generally, El Niño is associated with wetter than normal conditions during the winter in Southern California. Of the last four “strongest” El Niños on global record, three — 1982-83, 1991-92 and 1997-98 — brought above-average rainfall to Southern California.

El Niño is expected to extend an unrelated ocean heat wave that typically begins to dissipate between October and December, scientists say. Such a long period of higher-than-normal sea temperatures can wreak havoc on wildlife.

Much of the US is already baking under scorching heat – even though El Niño is not yet in full effect.

An extreme heat warning was in effect for Independence Day weekend for parts of the Midwest, South and Northeast, and New York City’s Central Park reached 100 on Thursday, the hottest temperature recorded there since July 18, 2012.

The story is the same in other parts of the world.

Europe has been subjected to a historic, dramatic heat wave recently, according to the World Meteorological Organization, with Germany breaking all-time heat records and nights bringing little relief.

“Extreme heat is one of the most serious and rapidly growing risks to health and safety caused by climate change,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization, said in June. “It’s estimated that half a million people die worldwide each year, but many of these deaths are preventable.”

More than 1,300 28 deaths were recorded in the week ending June 28 linked to high temperatures in Europe, according to Tedros.

“Because of climate change and global warming, this ‘one-of-a-generation’ heat-wave is almost certain to happen. [annually],” he wrote to X. “We were warned.”

In general, global temperatures have already increased by 1.8 degrees, or 1 degree Celsius, since the pre-industrial era, according to NASA, and have increased by more than 0.36 degrees per decade. Global climate change – fueled by human activities such as the burning of fossil fuels – is expected to raise sea levels in the US, cause hurricanes to become stronger and more intense, reduce water availability in the West and Southeast, contribute to more extreme droughts and heat waves, and extend and intensify the wildfire season.

Areas of France, Britain, Austria and the Netherlands have issued red alerts or warnings due to extreme heat. According to the Associated Press, Berlin police used water cannons – usually used to disperse protesters – to cool down the cheering crowds in front of the Brandenburg Gate. It’s so hot in Germany, AP reports, that concrete on highways is cracking, and officials have urged people to avoid unnecessary train travel.

Temperatures were so hot in France that the lack of air conditioning in many hospital areas put health at risk. One hospital had rooms where hot patients had to be moved to an air-conditioned waiting room, Reuters reported.

The heat is so unbearable in Japan that weather officials in April announced a new record number of days when high temperatures exceed 104 degrees – to dance, meaning strong or fierce heat, according to the Japan Times.

In Taiwan, the extreme heat has prompted officials to simulate a disaster situation involving three consecutive days of temperatures hitting 104 degrees, power outages, heat-related illnesses, damaged roads, garbage burning and a drastic reduction in rail speeds, according to the island’s Central News Agency.

Japan and Hong Kong reported their second-hottest springs on record, Africa had its fourth-hottest May on record and extreme heat in India and Pakistan has become dangerous, with temperatures exceeding 113 degrees in many places, the National Centers for Environmental Information said. The Arctic Ocean also saw its second lowest ice extent for the month of May.

To prepare California for more extreme heat events, the state now has a tool, CalHeatScore, that provides an “extreme heat scoring system” with five numerical levels. The tool also provides people with a list of facilities such as cooling centers.

Los Angeles County also now posts heat-related emergency room visits to an online dashboard.

“When temperatures rise, the body can lose its ability to cool itself, leading to heat-related illnesses such as heat stroke, heatstroke, heat cramps and heat rash, and worsening heart, lung, brain and other health conditions,” said the LA County Department of Public Health.

“Nationally, extreme heat is the leading cause of weather-related deaths in the United States, more than floods, hurricanes and tornadoes combined.”