The El Niño phenomenon, which has reached "giant proportions", is plunging the planet into a "danger zone" of extreme weather, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has warned.
"El Niño is taking on gigantic proportions. The science leaves no room for doubt. The planet is in uncharted waters and these waters are warming. Temperatures continue to rise and the world is in the danger zone for extreme weather," Guterres said.
The UN climate agency estimates that El Niño will become "very intense" and is almost certain to continue until February.
"El Niño has the potential to cause a devastating blow to communities and economies around the world," said Celeste Saulo, Secretary-General of the UN's World Meteorological Organization (WMO), quoted by the Guardian.
"We are already seeing disruption and destruction from droughts and floods, and we expect these impacts to increase as El Niño intensifies."
"Never before in WMO's 50-year history have we launched such a broad mobilization with national meteorological and hydrological services, which are on the front lines providing forecasts and services to save lives and livelihoods. There is no time to waste."
According to estimates by the Guardian newspaper, El Niño is likely to be the most intense in the last 1,000 years, adding more heat to an atmosphere where temperatures are already rising rapidly due to global warming.
This combination means that 2027 is poised to break all records and become the hottest year on record. The heat surge caused by El Niño is already having consequences, from worsening forest fires in Indonesia to weakening important monsoon rains in India.
The effects will extend globally, from a greater risk of bushfires in Australia to more intense flooding in South America. The World Food Programme said in August that El Niño risks pushing an estimated 50 million people into acute hunger. ©LAPSI.al
