U.K. forecasts ‘biggest’ El Nino will smash records, spark hottest year
The U.K. Met Office forecasts an unprecedented El Nino event that could push global temperatures to record highs by 2027. Scientists warn that this natural weather pattern, intensified by climate change, will cause significant global shifts in rainfall and temperature.
Why it matters
Extreme weather patterns threaten global food security, infrastructure, and public health, necessitating urgent climate adaptation strategies.
This year’s El Nino weather pattern will be the biggest in over a century and could make 2027 the hottest year globally, Britain’s national weather agency predicted Friday.
An El Nino weather event happens when warming sea surface temperatures in the tropical eastern Pacific trigger worldwide changes in winds, atmospheric pressure and rainfall, as well as higher global temperatures overall.
Adam Scaife, head of long-range forecasting at the weather agency, told the BBC: “We are expecting the biggest El Nino for over a century, peaking at something over three degrees -- that is unheard of in modern climate records.”
This means Pacific water would heat up more than 3 C above the norm in the coming months.
El Nino occurs when water temperatures rise at least 0.5 C above the baseline. While it is part of a natural cycle, scientists agree climate change increases its impacts.
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