The Australian Meteorological Office announced on Tuesday the emergence of the El Niño weather phenomenon, generally associated with rising temperatures and severe droughts that could lead to devastating wildfires.
Karl Braganza, a government meteorologist, said an El Niño phenomenon had spread in the Pacific Ocean, coinciding with the unusual spring heatwave currently hitting eastern Australia.
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Heat waves on land and in the oceans
Mr. Braganza reiterated that this meteorological phenomenon will contribute to the warming of the oceans, which have been experiencing record temperatures since April.
“This (Australian) summer will be warmer than average and certainly hotter than the last three years,” he said.
In July, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) estimated a 90% chance of the phenomenon forming in the second half of 2023.
“The arrival of El Niño will significantly increase the likelihood of breaking temperature records and triggering further extreme heat in many regions of the world and in the oceans,” WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas said in the bulletin.
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More extreme rainfall and drought
El Niño occurs on average every two to seven years and episodes typically last nine to twelve months.
It is a natural climate phenomenon associated with warming sea surface temperatures in the central and eastern tropical Pacific. However, the current episode “falls within the context of a climate altered by human activities,” the WMO said.
El Niño is generally associated with increased rainfall in parts of southern Latin America, the southern United States, the Horn of Africa and central Asia. It can cause severe droughts in Australia, Indonesia, parts of South Asia and Central America.
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On the other hand, the warm water can fuel hurricanes in the central and eastern Pacific, while it can slow the formation of hurricanes in the Atlantic basin.
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