The World Meteorological Organization has declared that El Niño weather conditions, which are associated with surging global temperatures, have developed in the tropical Pacific for the first time in seven years.
The WMO says governments around the world should mobilise preparations now to limit the impacts of the expected temperature extremes and to protect lives and livelihoods.
It says those impacts are likely to be more apparent next year than this year.
El Niño is a naturally occurring climate event associated with a pattern of warm sea surface temperatures in the Pacific Ocean.
Typically, it develops every two to seven years, lasts for nine to 12 months, affects weather and storm patterns in different parts of the world, and causes a surge in global temperatures, which peak about 12 months after it develops.
The WMO says it is 90% certain that the El Niño it is declaring now will last until at least the end of this year.
This will greatly increase the likelihood of record-breaking temperatures, trigger extreme heat events in many parts of the world and in the oceans.
Ireland can expect to experience warmer temperatures over land, but it is typically not as badly affected by El Niño-related weather extremes as other parts of the world.
It can bring extreme rainfall to southern South America, the southern United States, the Horn of Africa, and Central Asia; severe drought to Australia, Indonesia, parts of Asia and Central America; and increased hurricanes to the central and eastern Pacific Ocean.
The WMO says this deceleration on an El Niño is a wake-up call to governments around the world to mobilise preparations to protect people's health, ecosystems, and to save lives and livelihoods from the weather extremes that will come.
Summary:
- The first El Niño in seven years
- A surge in global temperatures expected
- Disruptive weather and climate patterns expected
- One of next five years will be warmest on record
- 2016 (during last El Nino) was the warmest year on record to date
- Greatest global temperature impact will be in 2024
- 1.3C of warming in three-and-a-half months of sea surface temperatures in the central-eastern equatorial Pacific
Read more: World should prepare for El Niño, new record temperatures - UN
