article_snippet.sent: NOAA scientist Jessica Blunden blames the heat on El Niño and climate change.
article_snippet.sent: Much of the most abnormal heat has been in the Pacific Ocean and places near it.
article_snippet.sent: NOAA climate scientist Jessica Blunden blames the record heat on a combination of El Niño, a blob of record hot water in the Pacific Ocean and human-caused climate change.
article_snippet.sent: Mike Halpert, deputy director of NOAA's Climate Prediction Centre, said: 'Based on the persistent observations of above-average sea surface temperatures across the western and central equatorial Pacific Ocean and consistent pattern of sea level pressure, we can now say that El Niño is here. '
article_snippet.sent: Record warm temperatures continued to dominate in Pacific Ocean Pacific Ocean and were also notable in the southwest Pacific and parts of the Arctic Seas to the north and northwest of Scandinavia.
highlights_snippet.sent: But El Niño, a blob of record hot water in the Northeast Pacific Ocean, could also be driving up temperatures .