609592 external_news 1533929257 1533929257 The waters off the Southern California coast are now approaching tropical temperatures found in parts of the balmy Caribbean Sea: 79.2 degrees Fahrenheit. That's the highest since measurements began in 1916, and 7-8 degrees warmer than average. Emanuele Di Lorenzo, a marine scientist at the Georgia Institute of Technology's School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, said the event is local. Still, Southern California's balmy oceans will likely stay warm for a while — much longer than terrestrial heat waves. Oceans aren't "so easy to cool off," said Di Lorenzo.

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