On July 3rd (Geneva time), according to Xinhua, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) warned that El Nino has formed in the Pacific region and is forecast to rapidly intensify in the coming months, increasing the risk of heatstroke, drought, heavy rain and many extreme weather phenomena globally.
According to the latest weather forecast from the WMO, El Nino is likely to develop into a strong wave in the period from July to September. Climate forecast models from leading research centers in the world all recorded a trend of sea surface temperatures in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific regions increasing sharply.
According to forecasts, sea surface temperatures in key monitoring areas may be 2 degrees Celsius above the multi-year average, a threshold often associated with strong and widespread El Nino waves.
The WMO said that climate models are currently reaching a very high consensus level, helping to increase the reliability of forecasts. This phenomenon is expected to continue to strengthen in the autumn in the Northern Hemisphere and affect many regions around the world.
Meanwhile, the equatorial Atlantic region is also forecast to maintain higher than average temperatures, creating more unfavorable factors for global weather.
Regarding air temperatures, the WMO predicts that most land areas in the range from 60 degrees south latitude to 60 degrees north will record higher than average temperatures. This covers most densely populated areas on the planet, except for polar regions.
Regarding rainfall, the forecast model in the period July - September clearly reflects the increasing impact of El Nino. It is likely that higher than normal rainfall will appear in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific regions.
Conversely, rainfall below average is forecast in some areas of the tropical Indian Ocean, the Indian subcontinent and most of Australia's territory.
According to the WMO, El Nino usually appears every 2 - 7 years and lasts from 9 - 12 months. This phenomenon usually begins to form from March to June, peaks in the period from November to February and affects global temperatures most strongly in the following year.
The organization said it is strengthening the provision of information, warnings and support services to help countries better prepare for the impacts that El Nino may cause in the near future.
