Japan experienced its warmest spring on record this year, the national weather agency said June 1, as greenhouse gasses and El Niño combine to send temperatures soaring worldwide.
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El Niño has arrived.
The U.N. weather agency on Tuesday declared the onset of the major climate phenomenon, warning its return paves the way for a likely spike in global temperatures and extreme weather conditions.
The World Meteorological Organization estimated that there’s a 90% probability of the El Niño event persisting through the second half of the year and it is expected to be “at least moderate strength.”
It urged governments across the globe to respond to its declaration by taking immediate steps to help protect lives and livelihoods.
“The onset of El Niño will greatly increase the likelihood of breaking temperature records and triggering more extreme heat in many parts of the world and in the ocean,” said Petteri Taalas, secretary general of the WMO.
“The declaration of an El Niño by WMO is the signal to governments around the world to mobilize preparations to limit the impacts on our health, our ecosystems and our economies,” he said.
“Early warnings and anticipatory action of extreme weather events associated with this major climate phenomenon are vital to save lives and livelihoods.”
The update follows a report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in early June, which said El Niño conditions were present and “expected to gradually strengthen into the Northern Hemisphere winter.”
‘Yet another wake up call’
Separately, a WMO report in May, led by the U.K.’s Met Office, warned there is a 66% chance that the annual average near-surface global temperature between 2023 and 2027 will briefly surpass 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels for at least one year.
The 1.5 degrees Celsius threshold is the aspirational global temperature limit set in the landmark 2015 Paris Agreement. Its importance is widely recognized because…
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