![]() But usually there are cool spots associated with El Nino. "Certainly part of that warming is coming from El Nino, which is emerging. ![]() But Kirtman said El Nino likely amplified temperatures already starting to creep upward. This summer's warming coincided with an emerging El Nino, a weather pattern that increases water temperatures in the Pacific and warms up the planet. That could exacerbate record heat already occurring on land. Hotter seas around Florida could also warm trade winds that help cool the state. Warming waters could also endanger spawning grounds for Atlantic bluefin tuna in the northern Gulf of Mexico, one of only two places where these tuna spawn. Three years ago a rare fish kill spread across waters off Miami as rising temperatures sucked oxygen from Biscayne Bay. Warmer ocean waters reduce oxygen levels and that could impact fish populations. South Florida is already seeing some impacts. That increasing heat, the IPCC said, could likely push some sea life "to the limits of their resilience." Scientists warned that marine heat waves, like the one inflaming waters around Florida, would become more commonplace. In its last assessment of the warming planet, the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change found the Earth has heated up 2 degrees Fahrenheit in the past two centuries. That prompted forecasters at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to predict that half the planet's oceans could undergo heat waves by September. South Florida's ocean heat wave arrived as global ocean temperatures have steadily climbed since April. In Florida Bay, the wide shallow bay between the Florida Keys and the Gulf of Mexico, temperatures climbed above 98 degrees. But beginning in July, ocean monitors stationed along the coast began recording temperatures hovering in the low 90s. Summertime seas around South Florida typically average about 88 degrees. ![]() "It's out of bounds from what we've seen," Kirtman said. If scientists were to model the chances for such a spike in temperature, he said, it would amount to one in 250,000 years. ![]()
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