This year's El Nino likely to become record-breaker: Top expert

The current El Nino weather phenomenon is expected to break records for its overall strength a top expert said Tuesday as regions face the risk of droughts floods and other extremes linked to the eventEl Nino warms surface temperatures in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean bringing worldwide changes in winds pressure and rainfall patternsIt typically takes place every two to seven years and lasts around nine to 12 months and it can lead to droughts in some parts of the world and flooding in othersThis years El Nino is unlike anything seen in more than three decades of tracking the phenomenon with forecast models pointing to an extreme event said Tim Stockdale an El Nino expert at the European Centre for MediumRange Weather Forecasts ECMWF an intergovernmental organisationI think its absolutely true to say weve never had a forecast of an El Nino that was so strong and so consistent across forecast models he said in a media briefingStockdale said it would be a very very big surprise if the event failed to be a recordbreakerI would expect it to break records he said while cautioning but no guaranteesWhile El Nino usually peaks between November and February the resulting spike in temperatures typically comes laterCombined with humaninduced climate change the last El Nino contributed to making 2023 the secondhottest year on record and 2024 the alltime highFloods droughts wildfiresThe US weather agency declared last month that El Nino had developed and would would intensify into potentially historic strengthLast week the World Meteorological Organization WMO said El Nino would quickly develop into a strong event between July and SeptemberUN food aid agencies appealed last month for funds to enact prevention measures over El NinoIn India agricultural officials said they would prepare contingency plans to help farmers cope with potentially low rainfall linked to the phenomenonMany parts of Asia experience drierthanaverage conditions and drought during El Nino yearsEl Nino can suppress the monsoon over South Asia depriving India and other parts of the subcontinent of vital rain that supports hundreds of millions of peopleEl Nino also raises the likelihood of drought heatwaves and wildfires in Australia as warmerthan average conditions grip the continentIt is often associated with increased rainfall in parts of the Horn of AfricaBut swathes of southern west central and eastern Africa usually see drierthannormal conditionsParts of western South America including coastal Peru and Ecuador often see aboveaverage rainfall during strong events raising the risk of flooding and landslidesIn contrast the weather pattern is tied to drierthanaverage conditions in northern Brazil increasing the risk of wildfires in the AmazonThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice