A record El Niño brews in the Pacific. The world is feeling the first impacts
Climate scientists are reporting record-breaking ocean temperatures in the Pacific, signaling an unusually intense El Niño event. The World Meteorological Organization has warned that this phenomenon could lead to severe global weather disruptions, including droughts and floods.
Why it matters
The intensity of this El Niño poses a significant threat to global food security, economic stability, and disaster management infrastructure.
Link copied Share Share article This El Niño is unlike those before it. ( ABC News: Alex Lim ) Climate scientists have been closely monitoring what is happening off Australia's east coast over recent months and are increasingly concerned by what they are seeing. Pacific Ocean temperatures, a key driver of El Niño, are rising at an extraordinary pace and starting to enter uncharted territory.
The dark, red tongue spreading in the Pacific is growing at a rate not seen in living memory. The El Niño brewing there is already breaking records, and it is months away from its peak. The sheer magnitude of the event and the uncertainty over what is driving it have alarmed experts.
Among them is senior climatologist at the Bureau of Meteorology Felicity Gamble, who said the rate of warming over the past six months was the fastest ever recorded.
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