In the next two years, the world may face new record average temperatures due to the El Niño weather event. Informs Freedom Matrix.
This is reported by Reuters with reference to the statement of the climatologists of the Copernicus program of the European Space Agency. Climate models indicate that the three-year La Niña phenomenon in the Pacific Ocean, which slightly reduces global temperatures, is ending. In 2023, the world will feel the return of the opposite phenomenon - El Niño. During El Niño, winds blowing westward along the equator slow down and masses of warm water move eastward, creating heat on the surface of the ocean.
El Niño usually results in record temperatures globally. Whether this will happen in 2023 or 2024 remains to be seen, but it is more than likely,” said the Copernicus team.
The hottest year since the beginning of observations is 2016, which coincided with a strong El Niño. At the same time, global climate change is causing extreme temperatures even in years when this phenomenon is not observed.
The past eight years have been the eight hottest years on record, indicating a long-term warming trend driven by greenhouse gas emissions, climate scientists say.
“If El Niño does develop, there are high chances that 2023 will be even hotter than 2016, given that the world continues to warm up because people continue to burn fossil fuels,” Frieder, a professor at the Grantham Research Institute, commented on the trend. .
Global average temperature is 1.2°C warmer than pre-industrial times, Copernicus data show.
