Strengthening El Nino "Adding Fuel To A Planet Already On Fire": UN Chief
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has warned that a strengthening El Nino is pushing global temperatures into uncharted territory. The phenomenon is exacerbating climate change impacts, leading to record-breaking heat and extreme weather events worldwide.
Why it matters
The acceleration of climate-driven weather extremes poses significant risks to global food security, infrastructure, and human safety.
A strengthening El Nino that could shatter all-time records is "adding fuel to a planet already on fire" and pushing the world into "uncharted territory," UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned Friday."Two months ago, I warned that El Nino was arriving on our doorstep," Guterres told the world body. "Now it is inside the house -- and turning up the heat."The El Nino weather pattern warms surface temperatures in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean, triggering worldwide changes in winds, atmospheric pressure and rainfall patterns, and pushing warmer overall global temperatures.Human-caused climate change can amplify El Nino's impacts because a warmer ocean and atmosphere increase the availability of energy and moisture for extreme weather events, such as heat waves and heavy rainfall."We have already endured a summer of extremes -- record-shattering heat domes; apocalyptic wildfires raging in Spain, France and far beyond; thousands of lives lost in the scorching conditions,"…
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