Geneva [Switzerland] / New York [US], August 2: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has warned of a climatically hot late summer and autumn in the Northern Hemisphere as the El Niño weather phenomenon develops, with the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) now forecasting a strong El Niño event.
"El Niño is not just on our doorstep - it is inside the house and turning up the heat. And this is only a warm-up act. El Niño is strengthening - adding fuel to a planet already on fire with scorching heat domes, apocalyptic wildfires and record hot seas," Guterres said in New York on Friday.
The WMO said that, combined with already warm ocean temperatures and other climate phenomena in the Indian Ocean, El Niño will shape global weather patterns in the second half of the year. Anomalies are expected to peak in November, the WMO said.
"Unless we act - to protect people and tackle the root cause of the crisis - the dangers will become deadlier still. The warm-up act is over. We cannot afford to wait for the main event," Guterres said. He also criticized a partial silence on the underlying causes. "Fossil fuels are fanning the flames of this crisis. Expansion must stop. More coal, oil and gas will lead to a more combustible future," he said.
El Niño occurs naturally every two to seven years. It involves a warming of surface temperatures in the central and eastern Pacific Ocean near the equator, altering wind and ocean currents.
According to the latest climate models, the 2026 El Niño will with overwhelming probability bring above-average temperatures to almost every continent, the WMO said.
Source: Qatar Tribune