2023-24 El Niño Event – One of the Strongest on Record as per WMO Seasonal Climate Updates

Context: 

The 2023-24 El Nino event has peaked as one of the five strongest on record according to WMO.

2023-24 El Niño – One of the Strongest on Record Says WMO

• As per the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service, the global mean temperature breached the 1.5-degree Celsius threshold for an entire year for the first time in January.
• World Meteorological Organisation issued the Global Seasonal Climate Update as per which, 
  • El Nino event 2023: It was strongest between November and January.
    • It displayed a peak value of about 2.0 degrees Celsius above the 1991 to 2020 average sea-surface temperature for the eastern and central tropical Pacific Ocean though it was weaker than the 1997-98 and 2015-2016 events.
  • Impact: 
    • The present El-Nino event  will result in above-normal sea-surface temperatures over much of the global oceans 
    • It is expected to lead to above-normal temperatures over almost all land areas in the next three months, and influence regional rainfall patterns.
  • Peaking: There is about a 60% chance of El Nino persisting during March-May with above-normal temperatures predicted over almost all land areas but it will be weakened  with an 80% likelihood of neutral conditions developing during April to June.
  • Emergence of La nina: There is a higher chance of La Nina developing later in the year again
  • Every month since June 2023 has set a new monthly temperature record and 2023 was, by far, the warmest year on record. El Nino has contributed to these record temperatures but heat-trapping greenhouse gases.

News source: The hindu

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