UN weather agency says El Nino continue to impact global climate

By Burak Bir

LONDON (AA) - El Nino is gradually weakening now but it will continue to impact the global climate in the coming months, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Tuesday.

In its regular update, the WMO said the 2023-24 El Nino weather phenomenon has peaked as "one of the five strongest" on record.

"It is now gradually weakening but it will continue to impact the global climate in the coming months, fuelling the heat trapped by greenhouse gases from human activities," it added.

The UN agency stated that above-normal temperatures are predicted over almost all land areas between this March and May.

"Every month since June 2023 has set a new monthly temperature record – and 2023 was by far the warmest year on record. El Niño has contributed to these record temperatures, but heat-trapping greenhouse gases are unequivocally the main culprit," said WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo, laying the blame on climate change caused by human activity.

He went on to say that sea surface temperatures in other parts of the world have been "persistently and unusually high" for the past 10 months.

“El Nino typically has the greatest impact on the global climate in the second year of its development, in this instance 2024," added the WMO.