El Niño weather phenomenon to cause higher temperatures and less rain this monsoon

June 9, Kathmandu: The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has announced the arrival of the El Niño climate phenomenon, raising concerns about extreme weather and temperature records.

El Niño, characterized by warmer sea surface temperatures in the Pacific Ocean near the equator, occurs every 2-7 years on average. Its impacts include increased risks of heavy rainfall and droughts globally.

Climate change can worsen or alleviate El Niño’s effects, potentially leading to new temperature records in regions already experiencing above-average temperatures.

Australia and Japan have already attributed warmer conditions to the developing El Niño.

In the United States, El Nino’s influence is weak during summer but becomes more significant from late fall to spring. It is estimated that there is an 84 percent chance of a “greater than moderate” El Niño developing by winter, which typically brings wetter conditions to southern California and the Gulf Coast while causing drier conditions in the Pacific Northwest and Ohio Valley.

The phenomenon also increases the likelihood of above-average temperatures in northern regions.

NOAA had already accounted for El Niño conditions in their recent hurricane predictions, as it tends to suppress Atlantic hurricane activity but enhances it in the central and eastern Pacific.

El Niño is the warm phase of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation, while La Niña represents the colder counterpart with lower sea surface temperatures in the eastern and central Pacific Ocean.