By Gulseli Kenarli
ISTANBUL (AA) – El Nino is expected to raise Türkiye's September temperatures above normal in 2023, said a Turkish climate scientist, predicting even higher temperatures in 2024 worldwide, surpassing this year's global record highs.
While climate change remains the primary driver behind the escalating global temperatures, the El Nino phenomenon has also added its impact since May.
The term El Nino refers to a warming of the ocean surface, or above-average sea surface temperatures in the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean.
Speaking to Anadolu, Levent Kurnaz, the director of the Center for Climate Change and Policy Studies at Bogazici University in Istanbul, said that El Nino signifies the unusual warming of Pacific Ocean waters, primarily affecting regions with coastlines.
Kurnaz said the El Nino effect started in Türkiye over the past 20 days, adding that the official onset of El Nino in the world is in May.
“In Türkiye, the end of July and the first week of August mark the peak of summer heat, followed by a cooling trend. This year, September could be notably warmer than usual. One benefit of El Nino is that it will bring rain to Türkiye, and we hope that we will not experience last year's drought.”
Drawing attention to the number of days with record-breaking heat worldwide in 2023, he predicted: “We anticipate much higher temperatures in 2024 compared to this year, with almost every day potentially setting new temperature records.”
Acknowledging that a significant proportion of the ongoing global warming can be attributed to climate change, Kurnaz underscored that in the past three years, the cooler-than-average temperatures in the Pacific Ocean have somewhat hidden the consequences of global warming.
Emphasizing the rising cost of food worldwide, irrespective of climate change, Kurnaz warned that this situation would be compounded by drought and climate change effects, leading to a serious food problem.
*Writing by Seda Sevencan