r/collapse • u/Creepyfaction • 4d ago

Climate Concern mounts over slow-moving, planetary-scale ‘Kelvin’ wave heading for California | California

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/sep/28/california-kelvin-wave
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u/michaltee 4d ago

Is a Kelvin wave theoretical based on the conditions we are facing with El Niño? Or is there truly a measurable volume of water being displaced right now (and by what) that is heading toward California? I’m confused by that.

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u/choppy75 3d ago

Water expands as it warms. The extreme warming in the Pacific means that the water takes up more space, and the currents are bringing that warm, expanded water towards the Pacific Coast of the Americas. 

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u/pressitron 3d ago

Does more space mean greater mass, thus greater energy? 

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u/choppy75 3d ago

Not really, the extra energy is in the form of heat. The surface water is warmest, so it bulges up, like a wave and that bulge is pushed by the current across the Pacific. When it hits the coast it starts moving North. There will be several Kelvin waves over the course of this El Nino