Branko Grisogono, professor of meteorology from the Department of Geophysics, Faculty of Natural Sciences in Zagrebalready predicted two years ago that the years 2025 and 2026 will bring record-breaking heat to the Slovaks’ favorite summer destination. He recently confirmed his prognosis in an interview with the station. According to a renowned scientist, temperatures will rise extremely high this summer and rewriting temperature records is almost certain.
A combination of two factors is behind the wave of extreme temperatures. “This is an intensified El Niño, adding to global warming. One effect stacks on top of another. This means that we humans continue to produce more and more greenhouse gases, breaking records while alone El Niño is sometimes stronger and sometimes weaker. The one due in the second half of this year is expected to be stronger than usual,” explained the scientist.
Grisogono recalls that El Niño is a recurring but not strictly periodic phenomenon. The warm phase of El Niña alternates with its opposite, cold phase, which is La Niña, approximately every two to seven years. This global climate cycle depends on changes in ocean temperature and atmospheric pressure in the equatorial Pacific Ocean. “The La Niña we’ve had so far has been weak, so last year wasn’t the warmest on record,” he explained.
A much more intense form of this phenomenon, known as “Super El Niño”, will hit Croatia. This year should be different in that sense, maybe even the warmest so far. “New records will be broken. In an increasingly warm climate, more and more extremes are emerging. In waves lasting several days, the temperature can certainly exceed 40 degrees,” pointed out the professor.
