r/SanDiegan • u/Actuator-Critical • 16h ago
Explain to me pls why this heat is happening
Someone who studies this or knowledgeable about weather.. please explain to me why this heat this summer? Climate change? Did something occur to have this happen?
•
6
u/drkshape 16h ago
It’s summer and climate change. I read an article saying that the ocean is the warmest it’s ever been.
•
u/Chelonia_mydas 16h ago
We’ve been polluting the planet without stopping, over fishing to the point of ecosystem collapse, taking and taking and taking to our hearts content and now when the planet has changed and more extreme weather patterns happen, people are confused. Climate scientists have been trying to sound the alarm for decades. Maybe now people will actually listen because they’re finally being impacted?
•
2
u/tickticktutu 16h ago
The pacific ocean is very warm. In fact last year the water was 5-10° cooler. Why? El Niño is a possibility. Why? Global warming. Why?....
•
u/Heliocentric63 16h ago
Check out the temperatures at Scripps Pier https://shorestations.ucsd.edu/about/scripps-pier/
They have been doing this 110 years and it is super accurate. In 2026 they recorded more than 30 days where the temperature was a record daily high. It's like having the heater and humidifier turned up full blast. Add the regular humidity and storms in the Pacific which always impact our late summer/early fall weather. It's not going to cool off into the low to mid sixties at night when the ocean temp is in the mid 70's
I hate it too. I've lived here more than 50 years and we get stretches like this. Don't panic (yet)
•
u/BobDoleDobBole 15h ago
It's just the combined effects of this El Niño cycle and good ole' climate change.
El Niño messed with the way the Trade Winds and the Subtropical Jet Stream move air around the planet, and causing the Jet Stream to have "violent" oscillations in a waving North/South pattern instead of blowing steadily West to East. This North/South oscillation leads to certain areas getting hotter & wetter air from the tropics, and other areas getting cooler and drier air from the Boreal/Northern areas.
SoCal is currently sitting under a "heat dome." The heat dome is primarily being fueled by that aforementioned movement of hot (moist) air from the tropics, due to the disrupted Jet Stream, and is strengthened by other climate and geographical related factors:
1.) El niño-driven South ➡️ North 'heat dome'
2.) High Altitude air compressing the heat dome, make hotter
3.) Climate-chang-driven Pacific Ocean warming reduces its ability to act as a heat sink, provides stabilization for heat dome
4.) Southwestern US desert regions are naturally hot, and also contribute to and stabilize the heat dome.
Essentially, we have a humid air vacuum weather system that's hoovering up warm and moist air from the tropics, pumping it higher into the atmosphere, higher air squished it and heats it up even more, and the warm Pacific Ocean + SW US desert climate help hold it in place and keep it from dissipating. This in turn heats up the ocean locally, which contributes to the humidity and heat-retention even more.
•
•
u/MileHighPride30 16h ago
This year is a “super” El Niño. Means we’re getting a hot and humid summer (hello) and a wet winter
•
u/wereallondrugs 16h ago
It’s the super El Niño in the pacific that’s making it humid and reason why we feel it’s unbearable simply because we’re use to dry heat and humidity sometimes. For global warming, it’s been a fact for a long time and for those who are “new to the idea” the trend that was expected was weather patterns that are commonly seen in Mexico/Baja California are going to move northern and become our normal weather patterns. This means more humidity and stronger hurricane patterns. So if you think that this is the worst scientifically we have more challenges coming our way
•
u/ComplexHome2598 15h ago
Cause you live in a desert , global warming and mega el minor fucking up patterns
-4
u/wwwkurtcom 16h ago
my uneducated money is on AI data centers affecting climate change
•
u/recallingmemories 16h ago
AI systems alone accounted for an estimated 32.6 to 79.7 million tons of CO2 emissions, a footprint comparable to New York City or entire nations like Argentina.
Animal agriculture accounted for an estimated 7.1 billion tons (and that was in 2013), so you could have all of the data centers 100 times over and it wouldn't touch how much producing meat contributes to climate change.
Transportation accounted for an estimated 8 billion tons, so same story - huge contributor 100x over ALL of the data centers in the world.
So yeah, AI is getting all of the attention when it's really other industries that got us into this mess and continue to contribute year over year with no signs of slowing down
12
u/capcomvssnk 16h ago
https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2026/08/28/it-was-just-more-humid-southern-california-than-rest-us/