A few months ago, several meteorological agencies announced that El Niño was building in the Pacific Ocean. And now the Australian Meteorological Service has officially announced that the weather phenomenon has set in.
El Niño occurs regularly in the tropical Pacific Ocean, has a major impact on the weather in the region and also gives the global average temperature an extra boost upward.
hot summer
Australia is one country that is particularly sensitive to the effects of El Niño, which, among other things, increases the risk of severe drought in the country. Summer in Australia begins in December – but it’s already unusually warm for the season in the southeast.
Scientists warn that the risk of forest fires in the country is increasing in the wake of the El Niño phenomenon.
– This summer will be warmer than average, and certainly warmer than the last three years, says forecaster Carl Braganza at a press conference.
The government says it is working to reduce risks in the short term, and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will meet rescue workers and experts next week, reports say. Australian ABC.
“We expected this to happen. The warnings are in place. The science shows our climate is changing,” he wrote in a statement.
“Forecasts indicate that this summer will be a difficult period.”
Calls for action
The naturally occurring El Niño phenomenon threatens to exacerbate the effects of climate change.
Hamish Clarke, a fire risk expert at the university, said: “Any further rise in temperatures we see as a result of El Niño this summer comes on top of decades of human-induced climate change which has already raised temperatures and the risk of bushfires in many areas.” . Melbourne told ABC.
– Without much stronger climate measures than we are currently taking, we can expect much worse conditions in the future.
El Niño and La Niña are two phases of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) weather cycle. El Niño warms surface waters in the eastern parts of the Pacific Ocean while La Niña cools them.
El Niño returns on average every two to seven years and usually lasts nine to twelve months. The peak often occurs at Christmas, hence the name El Niño (Boy).
El Niño effects such as increased rainfall typically affect parts of southern South America, the southern United States, the Horn of Africa, and Central Asia, while severe drought may occur in Australia, Indonesia, and parts of southern Asia.
Source: World Meteorological Organization, SMHI
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