April's ocean heat has moved from a monthly record sheet into a seasonal problem. Copernicus said April 2026 brought the second-highest April sea-surface temperatures on record for the extra-polar oceans, while record heat spread across large parts of the tropical Pacific and El Nino conditions were expected to develop in coming months. [1]

The paper's Monday piece on April's equatorial Pacific record treated the 26.99 degrees Celsius Pacific print as more than a curiosity. The Marine Service bulletin supplies the arithmetic: global ocean temperatures averaged 21.08 degrees Celsius, 46 percent of the global ocean was affected by marine heatwaves, and 57 percent of the equatorial Pacific was affected by marine heatwaves, the widest extent in that region in the record. [2]

The mainstream version is a climate update. The social version is a warning about the season ahead. Both miss something if separated. El Nino can suppress Atlantic hurricane formation through wind shear, but a hot Atlantic and widespread marine heatwaves can still load the storms that do form with more energy. Copernicus also noted record highs from the central equatorial Pacific toward the western coast of North America and Mexico, a map that points well beyond one basin. [1]

The ocean has already published the preface. The public-safety question is whether anyone translates it before June.

-- DARA OSEI, London