El Nino, a natural warming cycle in the Pacific Ocean, has formed and is expected to grow to historic strength, meteorologists announced. The El Nino will further heat the globe, already warming from fossil fuel pollution, and is likely to turbocharge extreme weather across the planet.
The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) officially confirmed the existence of the El Nino, which affects weather patterns across the globe. NOAA's announcement said there's a 63% chance that the El Nino will get so intense this late fall and early winter that it “would rank among the largest El Nino events in the historical record going back to 1950.”
Climate scientists warn that the warm, deep waters of an El Nino can bring “a lot of extra heat to the surface, fueling a lot of extreme events for a lot of places around the world.” United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres described El Nino as an “urgent climate warning.”
The weather pattern's effects vary by region, with winners and losers. El Nino often dampens Atlantic hurricane season activity but increases it in the Pacific. The drought-stricken Middle East could benefit, while other places face more danger.
Climate scientists forecast that 2027 will be the hottest year on record due to the lagging effects of this El Nino, which is expected to peak in the fall or winter. Temperatures raised by the weather pattern can dampen American economic growth, said Stanford climate economist Marshall Burke.
