Concerns Growing Over Planetary-Scale Wave Heading To California: Guardian

Sanjana KaranthMon, September 28, 2026 at 7:44 PM UTC

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Scientists are warning of an ocean phenomenon so severe it could raise sea levels along California by up to a foot, The Guardian reported Monday, with El Niño exacerbating the threat of upcoming storm surges and flooding in the Pacific.

El Niño develops every few years when ocean temperatures rise to abnormally warm levels, shifting rainfall and storm patterns primarily in the Pacific. This year’s El Niño is expected to be the largest in at least a thousand years, scientists told the outlet.

The development of El Niño threatens to bring with it the Kelvin wave, a planetary-scale phenomenon spanning thousands of miles. The wave is created when trade winds that usually blow toward Asia either die down or reverse back to the Americas during El Niño years, bringing a slow-moving surge of warm water.

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“It’s a wave unlike the ones you’re used to at the beach. They don’t crash, you can’t really see them come by,” Southwest Fisheries Science Center oceanographer Mike Jacox told the outlet. “This winter, we’re supposed to have some really high tides around Thanksgiving and Christmas. If you also have more storms, then you have storm surge. It’s just like you’re raising the floor on all that stuff that happens.”

Read more from The Guardian:

Link - www.theguardian.com

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Source: “AOL Breaking”