![A visitor to Gyeongdong Market in Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul, cools off with a handheld fan. [The Herald Business DB]](https://wimg.heraldcorp.com/news/cms/2026/08/06/news-p.v1.20260806.8c64cc1be3e540519263295dee3de63c_P1.jpg)
As South Korea endures record-breaking heat, a climate expert warned Thursday that temperatures will only climb more steeply with each passing year.
Kim Baek-min, a professor of environmental atmospheric science at Pukyong National University, appeared on CBS Radio's "Park Sung-tae's News Show" on Thursday and warned that the full impact of a super El Niño is still to come. "There is roughly a one-year lag between a super El Niño and the ocean releasing that heat into the atmosphere," he said. "Temperature rises could be even steeper next year than this year, so we need to prepare even more for next summer's heat."
Kim said this year has already broken national temperature records set in 2018. "Temperatures exceeded 41 degrees Celsius in Yangsan in the south, and by national records, 2026 has become the hottest year ever recorded in South Korea," he said.
The professor identified warming seas as the single most decisive cause of this summer's extreme heat. "Sea surface temperatures around the Korean Peninsula have risen to 28 to 29 degrees Celsius — warmer than the air at night," he said. "If you jump into the ocean to cool down, you won't feel any relief at all."
He went on to say that the oceans, which had long absorbed the heat generated by industrial greenhouse gas emissions, are now reaching their limit and releasing that stored heat back into the atmosphere. "There is at least one more peak still ahead in mid-to-late August," he said, urging the public to be especially vigilant about tropical nights driven by seas that refuse to cool.
Kim also pointed to a paradox in global clean-air efforts. "As fossil fuels are phased out and renewable energy expands, the air has grown cleaner, and stricter regulations on ship emissions have cleared the skies," he said. "But clearer skies mean more sunlight reaching the ocean, which is paradoxically heating it further — and that is the root cause of why mid-latitude regions around the world are getting hotter."
He added that even if carbon emissions are reduced, the already-warmed oceans will not cool quickly. "The current generation will have no choice but to live through this 'new normal' of extreme heat trends through 2040 to 2050," he said.
Kim also said the government's heat-wave response measures fail to reflect conditions on the ground.
"The Korea Meteorological Administration measures temperatures inside a white box on a grass lawn, shielded from direct sunlight, so there is a huge gap between those readings and what construction workers or farmers actually feel while working on asphalt," he said. "Asphalt surfaces can reach 60 degrees Celsius, and workers absorb radiant heat from the scorching ground with their entire bodies." He added that the government should go beyond monitoring temperature and humidity alone, develop a precise heat-stress index that accounts for radiant heat and suits outdoor work environments, and make it mandatory as soon as possible.
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