The La Niña phenomenon might lead to a cooling trend in various regions.
Recently, temperatures have been soaring globally due to the weather phenomenon known as El Niño. This event occurs when there's a shift in the typical air movements, causing a warming of the sea's surface. Fortunately, experts predict that these high temperatures will soon start to cool down. However, this doesn't mean we should worry about climate change.
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) released a report stating that the El Niño phenomenon, which has caused hot weather in many areas, is soon coming to an end. In its place, there's a 70% chance that La Niña conditions will appear during August to November. La Niña is characterized by cooler water temperatures on the surface of the central and eastern Pacific Ocean near the equator.
While La Niña may bring cooler temperatures, its impact is felt more in the tropics and subtropics rather than in Europe. It's worth noting that La Niña has the opposite effects of El Niño. The end of El Niño won't put a stop to the long-term climate change, as the planet continues to heat up due to greenhouse gases, as mentioned by the WMO. The deputy secretary-general of the WMO, Ko Barrett, said, "Our weather will continue to be more extreme due to the additional heat and humidity in our atmosphere." The WMO also suggests that areas such as the extreme north of South America, Central America, the Caribbean, and parts of East Africa can expect considerably more rain when La Niña first takes effect. El Niño's peak was in December.
El Niño is characterized by the warming of the central and eastern Pacific Ocean. It's essentially a wind circulation anomaly involving atypical air movements on Earth. This phenomenon influences both temperatures and exacerbates extreme weather events. El Niño happens naturally every two to seven years. 2023 held the title for the warmest year since the Industrial Revolution. Under the influence of El Niño, which developed in June 2023, a record temperature was set for every month following.
After the decline of an El Niño, the opposite anomaly, La Niña, typically follows. In this case, the sea surface cools in most of the tropical Pacific. The German Weather Service pointed out that recently, La Niña has failed to achieve the conditions needed for perfect climate balance in the affected regions. The reasons for this are still unclear. It's possible that recent La Niña episodes are shorter and less intense compared to those in the past.
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Despite the predicted end of El Niño and the possible onset of La Niña, climate change continues to contribute to increasingly extreme weather events worldwide. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) emphasizes that we should expect more intense heatwaves and other extreme weather phenomena due to the additional heat and humidity in our atmosphere.
While La Niña might bring cooler temperatures to some areas, the warming effects of climate change lead to higher temperatures globally. In fact, El Niño's peak in 2023 marked the warmest year since the Industrial Revolution, with record temperatures set each month following.
International organizations, such as the WMO, are raising awareness about the impact of extreme weather events caused by climate change. These events include heatwaves, as well as less common occurrences like El Niño and La Niña phenomena.
