Since spring of 2023, the world has been warmer than climate models anticipated (e360.yale.edu)
About 18 months ago, climate scientists began to notice something strange. In March of 2023, global sea surface temperatures started to rise. In a warming world, the seas would be expected to grow hotter, but the rise, which came at a time when the Pacific Ocean was in the neutral phase of the weather pattern known as the El Niño–Southern Oscillation, or ENSO, was unusually steep. In April, 2023, sea surface temperatures set a new record.