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🇦🇺 Australia /Environment & Climate

Why this El Niño is different from all the others

From ABC Australia · () English

Summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

Explainer Named sources Ongoing story
  • Pacific Ocean temperatures linked to El Niño are rising at an unprecedented pace, with central and eastern Pacific waters forecast to reach 5 degrees above average in December.
  • Scientists and the World Meteorological Organization warn that droughts, floods and other disruptions could intensify as the event develops.
  • Indonesia and Malaysia are already experiencing fires linked to El Niño, while experts remain uncertain how El Niño will behave in a warming world.

The El Niño developing across the Pacific is already breaking records, yet its peak remains months away. Ocean temperatures in the central and eastern Pacific are forecast to sit 5 degrees above average in December, as a broad area of unusually warm water spreads across the region.

We're actually seeing record values and record values by quite a significant margin as well.

· Felicity GambleThe Bureau of Meteorology climatologist described the scale of Pacific warming.

Felicity Gamble, a senior climatologist at Australia's Bureau of Meteorology, said the rate of warming over the previous six months was the fastest ever recorded. "We're actually seeing record values and record values by quite a significant margin as well," she said. The warming has raised concern among meteorologists, oceanographers and marine scientists.

The World Meteorological Organization has warned that the effects could reach communities and economies worldwide. WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo said El Niño had the potential to deliver a massive blow, with disruption and devastation already visible. She said droughts and floods were expected to increase as the event intensified.

El Niño in Spanish means boy child, but it has the potential to deliver a massive blow to communities and economies across the world. We are already seeing disruption and devastation.

· Celeste SauloThe WMO secretary-general warned about the event's global effects.

Australia has so far experienced relatively mild effects, but Indonesia is facing drought, with fires smouldering above and below ground. El Niño-linked fires have blanketed Indonesia and Malaysia. The scale of the event and uncertainty about what is driving it have heightened concern among experts.

From droughts and floods, we expect these impacts to increase as El Niño intensifies.

· Celeste SauloSaulo described the impacts expected as the event develops.

Decades of research have improved understanding of how Pacific temperatures influence global weather and have left countries better prepared for possible effects. But scientists still have questions about how El Niño and its cooler counterpart, La Niña, will behave as the climate warms. The experience of the severe 1982-83 El Niño remains a major reference point, after rainfall across parts of eastern Australia effectively stopped for almost a year.

This exceptional El Niño demands exceptional preparation and response.

· Celeste SauloThe WMO chief called for an unusually strong response.
About this summary

Originally published by ABC Australia. Summarized and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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