Stories
El Nino Set to Intensify and Last Until February 2027
- •The World Meteorological Organization stated that this year's El Nino will intensify and has a near-100 percent certainty of lasting until February 2027.
- •WMO Secretary General Celeste Saulo noted it could be one of the strongest El Nino events since at least 1950.
- •Sea surface temperatures in the central and eastern tropical Pacific are expected to reach a record 3.7 degrees Celsius above normal.
- •El Nino is a natural climate pattern that typically causes higher global temperatures and disrupts rainfall patterns, leading to droughts or heavy rains.
Key Questions Answered
The World Meteorological Organization stated that the current El Niño is nearly 100% certain to last until February 2027, intensifying before peaking in December.
Sea surface temperatures in the central and eastern tropical Pacific are expected to reach a record 3.7 degrees Celsius above normal from October to December, significantly higher than the previous record of 2.6C set between November 2015 and January 2016.
Researchers at the University of Chicago's Climate Impact Lab predicted that this year's super-El Niño could result in up to 451,000 excess deaths worldwide from June to February 2027. Additionally, El Niño typically causes higher global temperatures and disrupts rainfall patterns, leading to drought in some areas and heavy rains in others.
