El Niño likely to bring extreme weather across world: WMO

The world should prepare for the development of El Niño, which is associated with severe droughts in parts of southern Asia, Indonesia, and Australia as well as extreme rain, the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) said on Wednesday.

- Jayashree Nandi

The effect of El Niño on rising global temperatures usually plays out in the year after its development and is likely to be felt globally in 2024, WMO added. "The world should prepare for the development of El Niño, which is often associated with increased heat, drought or rainfall in different parts of the world. It might bring respite from the drought in the Horn of Africa and other La Niña-related impacts but could also trigger more extreme weather and climate events. This highlights the need for the UN Early Warnings for All initiative to keep people safe," said WMO secretary-general Petteri Taalas.

El Niño is characterised by an unusual warming of waters in the eastern equatorial Pacific, which has a high correlation with warmer summers and weaker monsoon rains in India. La Nina is the meteorological opposite.

The typical impacts of El Niño include: increased rainfall in parts of southern South America, the southern United States, the Horn of Africa and central Asia. It can also cause severe droughts over Australia, Indonesia, and parts of southern Asia. During summer in the northern hemisphere, El Niño's warm water can fuel hurricanes in the central/eastern Pacific Ocean and it can hinder hurricane formation in the Atlantic Basin.

Taalas said El Niño might bring respite from the drought in the Horn of Africa and other La Niña-related impacts but could also trigger more extreme weather and climate events.