Ocean Water Has Record Temperature Off San Diego Coast

Wednesday, August 26, 2020

Above: Scripps Pier, where the ocean temperature has been taken daily for more than 100 years, on Aug. 25, 2020

KPBS Midday Edition Segments podcast branding

A stretch of high temperatures in the 80s and 90s for San Diego is not that unusual in August - but with humidities also near 80-percent? That is not typical San Diego weather. However, it might be something we’re going to have to get used to. The heat and humidity we’ve been experiencing for the past two weeks can be ... Read more →

Aired: August 26, 2020 | Transcript

San Diego ocean temperatures hit record territory this past weekend, as a heatwave also baked the San Diego Region.

The record comes just weeks after the unseasonably cool ocean temperatures were recorded. Someone has taken the temperature at the end of Scripps Pier every day for more than 100 years.

Sunday’s reading tied for the hottest on record 79.5 degrees Fahrenheit. It tied the record that was set just two years ago.

Two years before that, a warm water "blob" kept nearshore temperatures above average for 24 months, and researchers find the trend concerning.

“You occasionally get hot spells,” said Art Miller, a Scripps Institution of Oceanography researcher. “You occasionally get cold spells. But the hot spells are getting hotter and hotter as the decades pass.”

Miller worries longer spells of ocean warming will hurt the nearshore habitat that sustains fisheries and other marine life.

Reported by Erik Anderson , Video by Mike Damron

“We are seeing all along our coast typically warmer temperatures as the decades pass,” Miller said. “And we have to be concerned about that because the stratification of the ocean controls the upwelling of nutrients that feeds the base of our food web along our coast.”

Scientists are trying to gauge the impact of the warming trend as they study the long-term impacts of the changes.

Aired 8/26/20 on KPBS News

Listen to this story by Erik Anderson.

The urgency of addressing human causes of climate change has long been apparent. To amplify this issue that's paramount to us all, KPBS has launched a Climate Change Desk to step up our coverage of this existential threat including reported stories and interviews with experts and newsmakers.

Erik Anderson
Environment Reporter

opening quote marks closing quote marks I focus on the environment and all the implications that a changing or challenging environment has for life in Southern California. That includes climate change, endangered species, habitat, urbanization, pollution and many other topics.