O The El Niño climate phenomenon has already begun and is expected to intensify by the end of the yearreported the United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) this Thursday (11).
The agency estimates that it could become very strong between November and January, which which would place it among the most intense recorded since measurements began in 1950.
El Niño is a natural climate phenomenon that raises surface temperatures in the equatorial Pacific Ocean and causes global changes in wind and rain patterns, as well as unstable weather conditions.
In their latest report, NOAA scientists noted that “During the last month, typical El Niño conditions have developed,” as indicated by above-average sea surface temperatures in the Pacific.
“There is a 63% probability that a very intense El Niño phenomenon will occur between November and January, which would place it among the strongest episodes recorded since 1950”, he highlighted.
Each El Niño episode is different, but events of great magnitude usually follow known patterns.
Among them are droughts in the Amazon, Indonesia and Australia, changes in monsoon winds in India and changes in precipitation regimes throughout the tropical belt.
El Niño usually reaches its peak at the end of the year, but the heat accumulated in the oceans is released more slowly into the atmosphere, which which raises global temperatures the following year.
That’s why, many meteorologists fear that 2027 will break the record for the hottest year on record. Additionally, El Niño adds heat to a planet that is already warming due to the burning of fossil fuels.
Like NOAA, meteorological experts from around the world are increasingly convinced that the phenomenon will be intense this year.
“At this stage, the probabilities clearly point to an event of moderate to strong or, probably, strong to record intensity,” Carlo Buontempo, director of the climate change service at the European Copernicus observatory, told AFP.
