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What a 5,000-mile long marine heat wave means for summer in the US
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Story by Ben Noll
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3 min read
What a 5,000-mile long marine heat wave means for summer in the U.S.
A massive ocean hot spot is stretching across a 5,000-mile swath of the Pacific — from Micronesia to the coastal waters of California. Across this zone, waters are as much as 6 to 8 degrees above average.
And it has the attention of climate scientists, who say it could boost temperatures, humidity and the threat for tropical storms in the West during the months ahead. Climate scientist Daniel Swain described this increasingly extreme marine heat wave as an “exceptional event” that’s breaking records.
The unusual ocean anomaly — the largest on the planet — could expand and intensify to cover the entire Pacific coast of North America by late summer, he wrote.
The development of this ocean hot spot, which is linked to a forming El Niño, also follows record warmth and a historic lack of snow in parts of the West earlier this year. Such conditions could worsen as the warm waters influence weather patterns in the coming months.
This marine heat wave is expected to be a key driver of conditions this spring and summer and it “could yield a summer quite different in California and the Southwest than we’ve seen in quite some time,” Swain said.
Its influence will vary — and it won’t immediately bring wall-to-wall heat and humidity to the region.
Over the coming weeks, the West will experience unsettled conditions and variable temperatures. That’s due to an enhancement in the subtropical jet stream — partly because of the marine heat wave. This will bring some beneficial moisture to the parched Intermountain West.Related video: Scientists warn a dangerous heat dome is building over the Southwest — 120°F possible (WooGlobe)
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Scientists warn a dangerous heat dome is building over the Southwest — 120°F possible
A dangerous heat Dome is forming over the American Southwest.
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But these milder effects won’t last.
As summer approaches, the marine heat wave will probably contribute to elevated overnight temperatures, leading to reduced relief from hot daytime conditions.
There’s also increased potential for uncomfortable humidity levels — something that is unusual in the West. Warmer ocean waters increase evaporation, which can raise atmospheric moisture levels, especially along the coast.
Then, later in summer, the marine heat wave and a forming El Niño could join forces to boost monsoonal thunderstorm activity across the West. This could enhance fire risks in the region — as dry lightning strikes can spark wildfires.
According to the National Interagency Fire Center, there’s above-average wildfire risk across several Western states during June and July.
The marine heat wave could also seriously boost the odds of an active eastern Pacific hurricane season — extending westward toward Hawaii. It will also raise the chances for the remnants of a tropical storm reaching California, which could spread moisture far and wide across the West — like Hurricane Hilary did in 2023.
Dillon Amaya, a climate scientist researching marine heat waves with NOAA, said that oceanic impacts may occur in places such as Hawaii as well as Southern and Baja California.
“In Southern California, we are concerned about fish migration, kelp forest degradation, whale entanglements, harmful algal blooms and sea bird mortality,” Amaya said.
However, Amaya said that in the open ocean, migrating fish can “get out of the way” of the marine heat wave.
This year’s marine heat wave — a persistent and extensive area of well above-average sea temperatures — is being driven by the Pacific Meridional Mode (PMM).
In its positive phase, the PMM is marked by warmer than average seas that stretch southwest-to-northeast across the Pacific for thousands of miles.
It typically develops from winter into spring through a series of atmospheric patterns that cause winds to weaken, which reduce evaporation and cause ocean warming. Once warm water from the PMM nears the equator, it can help feed a growing El Niño, with Amaya describing it as a precursor to that climate pattern, which can have much wider, global impacts.
This marine heat wave is the second big one in as many years to span the Pacific. Last fall, a record-breaking marine heat wave extended from eastern Asia into the North Pacific — and it still hasn’t fully faded. Its intensity was amplified by the planet’s long-term warming trend.
This year’s record-breaking marine heat wave is feeling that same tailwind of rising global temperatures.
What a 5,000-mile long marine heat wave means for summer in the US
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Picture This Pig: Diners Shift From Selecting Meat On the Menu
A new study finds that adding animal images to menus increases the odds of choosing the vegetarian dish by 22%.
Wed April 15th, 2026
• Food • meat consumption • Research
Picture This Pig: Diners Shift From Selecting Meat On the Menu
Words by Seth Millstein
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3 min read
If you want people to eat less pork, show them a picture of a pig. That’s what a new study conducted in the U.K. suggests. The odds of university students, staff and visitors choosing vegetarian dishes at the cafeteria were 22% higher when the menu listed a meat dish alongside a picture of the animal associated with it, the study finds. It’s an example of how a barely-perceptible intervention, or a “nudge,” can be used to encourage a choice — and in this case, promote dietary change.
Global meat consumption has doubled over the last 60 years despite the global call to eat less meat to mitigate the environmental harm caused by the meat industry. Animal agriculture is the biggest driver of deforestation and contributes up to 20% of all greenhouse gas emissions. But inspiring omnivores to cut down on meat has been an ongoing challenge.
Scientists have coined the phrase “the meat paradox” to describe this issue. Many people will say they care about the well-being of animals, but then turn around and eat meat, supporting an industry known for its inhumane treatment of animals. And they will often point to cultural values to justify their diet.
One way to redirect a person’s thinking back to their empathy is to use what’s called a “nudge” — a subtle change in design or presentation that may alter people’s decisions without affecting their freedom to choose. In the 2008 book of the same name, authors Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein defined a nudge as “any aspect of the choice architecture that alters people’s behavior in a predictable way without forbidding any options or significantly changing their economic incentives.”
“To count as a mere nudge, the intervention must be easy and cheap to avoid,” the authors wrote. “Nudges are not mandates. Putting fruit at eye level counts as a nudge. Banning junk food does not.”
A nudge was the tool used in the UK study. Students, staff and visitors in a university cafeteria were given one of two menus: one that was text only or one that displayed images of living animals next to their corresponding meat dishes.
The researchers observed dining patterns over two six-day periods. They found that when people looked at menus with pictures of animals, their odds of ordering a vegetarian dish jumped by 22%. These findings were consistent across the various pork, beef, chicken and fish dishes included in the study, the researchers wrote.
The students still had complete freedom to choose their meals. There was no incentive to pick the vegetarian option. This “demonstrates that visual reminders of meat’s animal origins can influence actual food choices in a natural setting,” the researchers wrote.
It’s not the first study to support using nudges as a tool for encouraging eating more plant-based foods. A 2019 study found that when conference attendees were offered a meat buffet by default with the option of switching to a plant-based dish, 94% chose the meat meal — but when a plant-based buffet was offered as the default, only 13% chose a meat dish.
For years, organizations like Greener by Default and the Better Food Foundation have been helping places like hospitals and universities implement plant-based nudges at their cafeterias. This takes many forms, such as offering plant-based dishes by default, displaying them more prominently, and giving them more appetizing names.
New York City’s public hospitals deployed some of these policies, and after making subtle changes to how patients were offered food, the number of meat dishes served by the hospital fell by about 50%. The Better Food Foundation says that the various plant-based nudge initiatives it’s helped implement have collectively reduced carbon emissions by 7.9 million kilograms annually.
Many people are deeply attached to their food, and it’s not surprising that many don’t want to be told to eat less of something they love. This study adds to the growing body of evidence that nudges can be a powerful and effective way of encouraging people to choose to eat less meat.
Exposing the Big Game 