Oceans absorb around 90 percent of the excess heat generated by human activity. The European Union's climate monitor said Friday that ocean temperatures are edging toward record highs as conditions shift toward a potentially powerful El Niño weather pattern. Samantha Burgess from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) said sea surface temperatures in recent days were just shy of the all-time highs of 2024—and May looked set to break its own record. "It's a matter of days before we are back in record-breaking ocean SSTs (sea surface temperatures) again," Burgess, strategic lead for climate at ECMWF, told AFP. The Copernicus Climate Change Service said daily sea surface temperatures in April "gradually inched" toward near-record highs, reflecting the transition to El Niño expected in coming months.…