The World Meteorological Organization warned that El Niño could be extremely strong, with a record rise of 3.8 °C in the central Pacific between November and January. Some 50 million people could face greater hunger due to droughts and floods in Africa, Asia and Latin America.
The El Niño climate phenomenon could cause a record rise in ocean temperatures in the Pacific as it sweeps around the planet like a "wrecking ball", causing floods and droughts, UN officials warned on Wednesday.
The new seasonal outlook from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) predicts that the El Niño event will become extremely strong, with temperatures in the central Pacific rising about 3.8 °C above normal between November and January, peaking around December. "We have not seen in our records 3.8. We have seen around 3 in some record El Niños before, with very substantive impacts across the world. So we are beyond that limit," said WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo.
El Niño is the warm phase of the naturally occurring El Niño-Southern Oscillation cycle, a climate pattern that influences weather around the world. It tends to cause higher global temperatures and disrupt rainfall patterns across large regions, bringing drought in some areas and heavy rains in others. It is a natural climate pattern and is not caused by climate change; however, global warming can make El Niño episodes more intense.
El Niño-linked weather extremes could worsen pressure on housing, water, sanitation and health services, with flooding risks rising in southern Africa from November, according to the WMO. In Southeast Asia, warmer conditions and a lack of rainfall could affect agriculture and water supplies, while Latin America could see increased rainfall. The pattern can also lead to a warm but dry winter in western Canada.
The WMO and the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Tom Fletcher, called for urgent preparedness measures. "This El Niño is the behemoth, it is a wrecking ball. It will tear through Latin America, Eastern and Southern Africa, Asia and the Pacific with extreme heat, droughts and floods," said Fletcher, who warned of massive humanitarian consequences. Some 50 million people could face increased hunger, he said.
