Temperatures expected to hover around 100F in downtown LA and even hotter inland, raising concerns about wildfires

Southern California faced scorching heatwaves this summer that made locals wonder what happened to their famed Mediterranean climate.

Now, the fall is bringing heatwaves too.

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© Photograph: Caroline Brehman/Reuters

© Photograph: Caroline Brehman/Reuters

© Photograph: Caroline Brehman/Reuters

Wave nearing southern California expected to reach San Francisco Bay Area by October as it crawls toward Alaska

Communities across California are rushing to prepare for the imminent arrival of the so-called “Kelvin wave”, a massive underwater band of warm water threatening to inundate swaths of the vast North American shoreline.

The wave is nearing southern California and expected to reach the San Francisco Bay Area by early October, as it crawls toward Alaska. Waters could rise by a foot along the California coast, according to scientists, who have warned that this could dramatically double the 8-12in rise in sea levels already caused by climate change over the last century.

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© Photograph: Kelvin Kuo/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images

© Photograph: Kelvin Kuo/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images

© Photograph: Kelvin Kuo/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images

The ocean phenomenon could raise sea levels by up to a foot as El Niño keeps warm water trapped along the coast

Concerns are mounting about an ocean phenomenon known as a Kelvin wave that could raise sea levels along the California coastline by up to a foot, as scientists say El Niño is supercharging the threat of storm surges and flooding in the coming months.

As an incredibly strong El Niño continues to develop in the Pacific, the phenomenon brings with it a strange shift in the ocean. The Kelvin wave phenomenon is created when trade winds that usually blow from South America towards Asia die down or reverse in El Niño years, setting off a massive, slow-moving slosh of water.

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© Photograph: Mario Tama/Getty Images

© Photograph: Mario Tama/Getty Images

© Photograph: Mario Tama/Getty Images

Beachfront homeowners and beachcombers are watching the sand vanish into the ocean as torrid waves strike the coast.

© John Francis Peters for The New York Times

Forecasters say up to 40 million people in multiple US states could be affected by the early season northeasterly storm

High winds and heavy rain were beginning to batter New England on Friday as a “significant” nor’easter, the first such storm of the fall, threatened to disrupt weekend plans for millions.

In the Pacific Ocean, meanwhile, three separate hurricanes, one threatening “catastrophic flooding”, including life-threatening flash floods, in Hawaii, were churning as a record-setting El Niño continued to amplify severe weather events on a global scale.

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© Photograph: NOAA

© Photograph: NOAA

© Photograph: NOAA

For months, millions of people have been living under a stifling blanket of toxic haze, fueled by a punishing drought brought on by the El Niño weather pattern.

There is hope in solar power. As the UN meets, we are urging leaders to pursue a clear goal: clean energy for all by 2030

• Our message to global leaders: we need solar power everywhere by the decade’s end

As climate experts from around the world gather in New York for their annual week of talking through the world’s deepest dilemma, the vibes are mostly bad.

Though 2026 seems likely to set a new global temperature record (and 2027, as El Niño gathers steam, is almost certain to break it), and though the planet has careened from one climate disaster to another (European heatwaves that killed tens of thousands, a Nepali flood that wiped out entire communities), and though scientists warn that we’re reaching precisely the global tipping points they’ve long feared (the new research on the faltering great currents of the Atlantic should send a literal chill up your spine), there’s a distinct lack of political momentum.

The path forward is difficult, but the way is clear. We want solar for everyone, everywhere, before the decade is out.

We know that standing up to the powerful can be scary. But if there is one thing that unites us, it is that we live beneath the same sun. That unity is our strength, and we must use it to act now.

Bill McKibben is the Schumann distinguished scholar at Middlebury College. He is the founder of Third Act, organizing people over 60 for progressive change

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© Photograph: Brook Mitchell/Getty Images

© Photograph: Brook Mitchell/Getty Images

© Photograph: Brook Mitchell/Getty Images

It’s the first time in recorded history that a sea turtle has nested on the West Coast. Scientists say it is the latest sign of warming ocean waters.

© NOAA Fisheries

More than 74,000 people remained under evacuation orders in the Tokyo region as authorities warned of landslides and floods.

© Kyodo, via Reuters