Global weather agency warns of higher temperatures

The El Niño phenomenon often brings increased heat, drought or rainfall in different parts of the world, and the likelihood of it developing later this year is increasing, the global weather watchdog says.

In an update on May 3, the World Meteorological Organization said El Niño would have “the opposite impacts on weather and climate patterns in many regions of the world to the long-running La Niña and would likely fuel higher global temperatures’’.

A cooling La Niña over the past three years has acted as a temporary brake on global temperature increase, the WMO said.

A recent report said the annual average global near-surface temperature for each year between 2023 and 2027 is predicted to be between 1.1°C and 1.8°C higher than the average over the years 1850-1900.

El Niño is associated with warming of the ocean surface temperatures in the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean. It occurs on average every two to seven years, and usually lasts nine to 12 months. The unusually stubborn La Niña has now ended after a three-year run, the WMO said.