Spain Registers Record High Sea Temperatures in May

Spain registered record sea temperatures for the month of May along much of its coastline, the country's port authority said on Tuesday, as the UN forecast a moderate or possibly strong El Nino, which could drive up global temperatures in coming months.

Twelve out of 15 deep-water buoys recorded their highest-ever temperatures for the month of May, as well as six out of 14 buoys along the coast, according to the Spanish port authority.

Human-caused climate change was behind the phenomenon, said Ruben del Campo, spokesperson for Spanish weather agency AEMET.

"Over the last decade, there have been just seven record-breaking cold days, whereas we have had 221 record-breaking hot days," del Campo said, adding that this reflected a constant rise in global average temperatures.

However, del Campo added, May's record sea temperatures were unrelated to El Nino, which will potentially begin to emerge in the Pacific in the coming months and reach its peak in October and November.

(Reuters)