| UN Warns of Upcoming ‘Surge’ in Extreme Global Temperatures Alison Durkee - Forbes | |
| go to original July 5, 2023 |
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El Niño 2023 animation (World Meteorological Organization - WMO)
The United Nations has warned the world to prepare for the effects of El Nino, saying the weather phenomenon which triggers higher global temperatures is set to persist throughout 2023.
Key Facts:
• El Niño, which takes place every two to seven years, occurs when easterly winds that typically push warm surface waters across the Pacific Ocean weaken, meaning warm water spreads across the entire ocean and some heat that would otherwise get absorbed into the ocean instead gets released into the atmosphere, raising global temperatures.
• The weather pattern typically lasts nine to 12 months—but can last longer—and historically brings more rainfall to parts of southern South America, Africa, central Asia and the southern U.S., while causing droughts in Australia, Indonesia, parts of southern Asia, Central America and northern South America, the WMO notes.
• El Niño’s return “will greatly increase the likelihood of breaking temperature records and triggering more extreme heat in many parts of the world and in the ocean,” WMO Secretary-General Prof. Petteri Taalas said in a statement Tuesday, with the agency predicting there’s a 98% chance that one of the next five years will be the hottest on record, breaking a record set in 2016 during the last El Niño event.
• In addition to rising heat, El Niño also brings the risk of wildfires and brushfires, along with food shortages as the weather changes can impact crops and global food supply, with Politico reporting it could affect supplies of fish in the Pacific Ocean and the world’s cereal production, among other concerns.
• It could also increase cases of viral diseases, with the World Health Organization predicting in June that the weather pattern could contribute to the spread of diseases like dengue, Zika and chikungunya.
• There’s a 90% chance the El Niño event will continue through the second half of 2023, the WMO noted, but the worst temperatures are likely to be felt next year in 2024, as the WMO noted the pattern’s impact on global temperatures typically plays out the year after an El Niño develops.
Read the rest at Forbes
Related: What 120 Degrees Looks Like in One of Mexico’s Hottest Cities (The New York Times)
Related: Floods, Fires and Deadly Heat Are the Alarm Bells of a Planet on the Brink (Washington Post)
Related: This July 4 Was Hot. Earth’s Hottest Day on Record, in Fact. (Washington Post)
Related: UN Weather Agency calls for Robust Early Warning Systems as Latin America and the Caribbean Brace for More Extreme Weather Events (IPS)
Related: Why a Sudden Surge of Broken Heat Records Is Scaring Scientists (Washington Post)
Related: World Meteorological Organization Declares Onset of El Niño Conditions (WMO)
Related: Earth Is at Its Hottest in Thousands of Years. Here’s How We Know (The Washington Post)
Related: Tijuana, Reliant on the Colorado River, Faces a Water Crisis (Associated Press)
Related: Record Predictions: United Nations Warns to Prepare for El Nino Impact (AFP)
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