Extreme weather may occur frequently, US meteorological agency: El Ni ñ o makes a comeback in the atmosphere | Pacific | Meteorology
According to a report released by the Climate Prediction Center of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on the 8th, after nearly three years of La Ni ñ a, the El Ni ñ o phenomenon is making a comeback and may trigger extreme weather later this year, according to Reuters.
The report states, "In May, as the sea surface temperature in the equatorial Pacific rose above average, a weak El Ni ñ o phenomenon occurred."
El Ni ñ o is a large-scale sustained abnormal warming phenomenon that occurs in the eastern and central equatorial Pacific Ocean, also known as a "warm event". Its occurrence often leads to an increase in global average temperature.
El Ni ñ o means that the waters in the eastern Pacific are warming up compared to usual. But this year, before El Ni ñ o began, global sea surface temperatures were 0.1 ℃ higher than usual. This means that extreme weather may intensify.
The last time El Ni ñ o occurred was in 2016, which became the hottest year on record. According to previous reports from Reuters, the El Ni ñ o phenomenon may exacerbate the impact of global climate change, breaking high temperature records in 2023 or 2024.
The report states that most experts refer to the judgments of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration or the Australian Meteorological Service to confirm that the El Ni ñ o phenomenon has begun. The judgment criteria for BOM are relatively stricter, with a relative temperature increase of 0.5 ℃ compared to NOAA. BOM uses a temperature increase of 0.8 ℃ compared to the average in key areas of the East Pacific as the standard. On the 6th, BOM announced that there is a 70% chance of an El Ni ñ o occurring this year.
Under the control of El Nino, extreme weather such as rainstorm in South America and drought in Australia may occur. This will affect agricultural production from the Americas to Asia.
According to Reuters, a study published in May this year estimated that the El Ni ñ o phenomenon could cause $3 trillion in global economic losses this year.