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A massive wave of warm water is making its way across the Pacific Ocean as the newly declared El Niño gets into full swing, satellite images show.The band, called a Kelvin wave, marks a swell of higher-than-average sea levels that stretches hundreds of miles along the equator. The anomaly is caused by warmer waters linked to El Niño — the warm phase of a natural climate pattern whose current iteration could become one of the strongest ever recorded.The Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich satellite captured the deviations from average sea surface height on June 8. Red areas indicate higher sea surfaces than usual, while blue areas mark areas with lower surface heights. Developed and launched in 2020 by NASA and the European Space Agency and operated by the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT), Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich measures changes in sea surface height down to fractions of an inch every 10 days.The data complements measurements of sea surface temperature that have shown Pacific waters warming at unpreceded rates over the past several months, leading scientists to declare the start of a new El Niño on June 11. When ocean water warms, it expands and takes up more space. That translates to an increase in the height of the water relative to the satellite and the center of Earth, which is then picked up by the satellite's sensitive equipment. At some points along the equator, sea surfaces are now more than 6 inches (15 centimeters) higher than usual.Kelvin waves like this one form when winds in the western Pacific near the equator weaken and temporarily reverse, blowing from west to east instead of east to west. That lets warm water gradually build up in the east, deepening the layer of warm surface waters and preventing colder waters from rising from below. The wave has now reached the western coast of South America.NASA had already observed a few other Kelvin waves this year, suggesting an El Niño event was soon to follow. In January, Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich detected one near Micronesia that dissipated around mid-February. Another emerged in March and elevated sea levels near Peru by mid-May.Related storiesEl Niño is officially here, and will be among the strongest ever recorded, NOAA announcesComing El Niño will be the strongest ever recorded, new forecast predicts'The biggest El Niño event since the 1870s': 'Super' El Niño is now the most likely scenario by the end of this year ‪—‬ and the humanitarian cost could be hugeChanges in sea surface temperature or height can alter atmospheric circulation patterns and affect the weather. El Niño often increases rainfall in the southwestern U.S., Colombia, Peru and Ecuador, while rainfall in the western Pacific tends to decrease. The most recent El Niño, which lasted from June 2023 to April 2024, boosted global mean temperatures that made 2024 the hottest year on record and the first to breach the 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) warming limit — a guardrail set by the Paris Agreement beyond which the effects of climate change become more and more catastrophic. The June 8 conditions in the western Pacific were similar to those that occurred 1997 during a particularly strong El Niño, according to a statement from NASA. 2026 has seen fewer Kelvin waves so far than 1997, but this year’s El Niño is still ramping up."For now, it looks like it's going to be a big one — more so than I would have said last week — but we still need more observations to know what's going to happen," Severine Fournier, a sea level researcher at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab, said in the statement.How much do you know about our blue planet? Test your terran knowledge with our Earth quiz!

Arc System Works is blowing the dust off its 2015 2D fighting game BlazBlue: Central Fiction and adding a new DLC character a decade down the track.Arc System Works made the announcement in a note at the end of a brief teaser trailer today, as part of its 2026 showcase. However, the publisher otherwise refrained from adding any further specifics about the character itself. Fans will not need to wait long, though, as the complete reveal of the character will occur at EVO 2026 this weekend.“As you saw in the trailer, we will be adding a new playable character to the game,” said BlazBlue: Central Fiction producer Riku Ozawa during the showcase. “It’s been many years since this game [was] released. We were able to make this new development happen thanks to the continued support of fans around the world who have kept the game alive. Truly, thank you so much.”According to Ozawa, development for this DLC character was only settled “very recently.” “Normally, we should wait to make the announcement until we have footage of the character in-game,” he conceded. “This time, however, I wanted to share with everyone that we are working on this as soon as I could, so we’ve made this announcement without gameplay footage.”Ozawa confirmed the new character will be “a certain someone who has appeared in the main BlazBlue games.”Developed by 2D fighting game specialists Arc System Works, BlazBlue: Central Fiction was initially released in arcades in late 2015 before arriving on PS3 and PS4 in late 2016. The game was subsequently ported to PC and Switch.Luke is a Senior Editor on the IGN reviews team. You can track him down on Bluesky @mrlukereilly to ask him things about stuff.