Global temperatures are expected to even higher this summer after the El Nino weather pattern emerged in the tropical Pacific for the first time in seven years, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said.
A warming of water surface temperatures in the eastern and central Pacific Ocean, El Nino is linked to extreme weather conditions from tropical cyclones to heavy rainfall to severe droughts.
The world’s hottest year on record, 2016, coincided with a strong El Nino, and are due to go higher in 2023.
Climate change is also sending temperatures higher worldwide.
The WMO said that 2023 could be the warmest on record due to El Nino and anthropogenic global warming.
“To tell you whether it will be this year or next year is difficult,” Wilfran Moufouma Okia, Head of Regional Climate Prediction Service at WMO, told reporters in Geneva.
The climatic changes will most likely lead to an increased spread of viral diseases such as dengue, Zika and chikungunya.
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