El Nino

What is Atlantic Nina? How La Nina's cousin could affect hurricane season

This cooling comes from two climate phenomena with similar names: La Nina, which forms in the tropical Pacific, and the less well-known Atlantic Nina

Experts warn against relief even as July ends streak of global heat record

Earth's string of 13 straight months with a new average heat record came to an end this past July as the natural El Nino climate pattern ebbed, the European climate agency Copernicus announced Wednesday. But July 2024's average heat just missed surpassing the July of a year ago, and scientists said the end of the record-breaking streak changes nothing about the threat posed by climate change. "The overall context hasn't changed," Copernicus deputy director Samantha Burgess said in a statement. "Our climate continues to warm." Human-caused climate change drives extreme weather events that are wreaking havoc around the globe, with several examples just in recent weeks. In Cape Town, South Africa, thousands were displaced by torrential rain, gale-force winds, flooding and more. A fatal landslide hit Indonesia's Sulawesi island. Beryl left a massive path of destruction as it set the record for the earliest Category 4 hurricane. And Japanese authorities said more than 120 people died in

No one prepared for unprecedented heat endured this summer: Sunita Narain

India is grappling with unprecedented heat this summer and no one is prepared for the level of warming being experienced, leading environmentalist Sunita Narain has said, emphasizing the need for a heat index and a complete overhaul of the way modern cities are designed. In an interaction with PTI editors here, Narain, the Director General of the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), said the brutal heat scorching swathes of India is a result of naturally occurring El Nino phenomenon -- an unusual warming of the ocean surface in the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean -- and climate change. "Nobody is prepared. Let's be very clear. 2023 was globally the hottest year on record. We have broken every record in the last 45 days with an unbroken (streak of) temperatures above 40 degrees. This is climate change. It is compounded this year by the waning of the (2023-24) El Nino. This means we really need to get our act together. We need to ensure that vulnerable communities are .

Cooler hurricane-helping La Nina to replace El Nino that adds heat to Earth

The strong El Nino weather condition that added a bit of extra heat to already record warm global temperatures is gone. It's cool flip side, La Nina, is likely to breeze in just in time for peak Atlantic hurricane season, federal meteorologists said. The National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration Thursday pronounced dead the El Nino that warms parts of the central Pacific. The El Nino, while not quite a record breaker in strength, formed a year ago has been blamed, along with human-caused climate change and overall ocean warmth, for a wild 12 months of heat waves and extreme weather. The world is now in a neutral condition when it comes to the important natural El Nino Southern Oscillation, which warps weather systems worldwide. Neutral is when weather gets closer to long-term averages or normal, something that hasn't happened as much recently as it used to, said NOAA physical scientist Michelle L'Heureux, who is the lead forecaster of the agency's ENSO team. But it likely won't ...

India's May heatwave peaks 1.5 degree celcius above previous record

Heatwaves similar to those experienced in May in India are almost 1.5 degrees Celsius warmer than the warmest heat waves previously observed in the country, according to a new rapid attribution study by an independent group of climate scientists and researchers. The analysts at ClimaMeter said the intense and prolonged heat wave India endured in May was a result of the naturally occurring El Nino phenomenon -- unusual warming of the ocean surface in the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean -- and the rapidly increasing concentration of greenhouse gases -- primarily carbon dioxide and methane -- in the atmosphere. The researchers analyzed how events similar to the high temperature in India's May heatwave changed in the present (20012023) compared to what they would have looked like if they had occurred in the past (19792001). "The temperature changes show that similar events produce temperatures in the present climate at least 1.5 degrees Celsius warmer than what they would hav

Record-shattering heat: Summer of 2023 was earth's hottest in 2,000 years

As climate change continues to be exacerbated by El Nino, temperature records are likely to be broken again in 2024

Killer April heat wave in Asia was made much worse by climate change

In South Asia, which was the focus of two such studies in 2022 and 2023, abnormal heat was found to be 45 times more likely to occur, and to be 0.85C higher due to climate change

India faced double wrath of heatwave and water disasters in 2023: WMO

Asia remained the world's most disaster-hit region from weather, climate, and water-related hazards in 2023

India likely to get normal monsoon this year: Private forecaster Skymet

Seasonal rains expected to be 102% of the long-period average of 868.6 mm for four-month period, it say

Zimbabwe announces drought disaster amid El Nino-induced hunger crisis

Zimbabwe declared a state of disaster on Wednesday over a devastating drought that's sweeping across much of southern Africa, with the country's president saying it needs USD 2 billion for humanitarian assistance. The declaration was widely expected following similar actions by neighbouring Zambia and Malawi, where drought linked to the El Nino weather phenomenon has scorched crops, leaving millions of people in need of food assistance. Due to the El Nino-induced drought more than 80 per cent of our country received below normal rainfall," President Emmerson Mnangagwa said in a speech calling for international aid. The country's top priority, he said, is "securing food for all Zimbabweans. No Zimbabwean must succumb to, or die from hunger. He appealed to United Nations agencies, local businesses and faith organisations to contribute towards humanitarian assistance. El Nino, a naturally occurring climatic phenomenon that warms parts of the Pacific Ocean every two to seven years, ha

'2023-24 El Nino among 5 strongest on record, heat to persist this year'

The 2023-24 El Nino has peaked as one of the five strongest on record and will continue to impact global climate in the coming months despite a weakening trend, the World Meteorological Organisation said on Tuesday. The UN agency also said above-normal temperatures are predicted over almost all land areas between March and May. The prevailing El Nino conditions fuelled record temperatures and extreme events the world over, with 2023 being the warmest on record. According to the European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service, the global mean temperature breached the 1.5-degree Celsius threshold for an entire year for the first time in January. A permanent breach of the 1.5-degree Celsius limit, specified in the Paris Agreement, however, refers to long-term warming over many years. In its latest update, the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) said there is about a 60 per cent chance of El Nino persisting during March-May and an 80 per cent likelihood of neutral conditions ..

India likely to experience warmer start to summer season this year: IMD

India is likely to experience a warmer start to the summer season this year with El Nino conditions predicted to continue through the season, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Friday. More heatwave days than normal are predicted over northeast peninsular India -- Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and north interior Karnataka -- and many parts of Maharashtra and Odisha. The country is likely to record above-normal rainfall in March (more than 117 per cent of the long-period average of 29.9 mm). India is likely to see above-normal maximum and minimum temperatures in most parts of the country in the March to May period, IMD Director General Mrutyunjay Mohapatra said at a press conference. Heatwave conditions are not expected over north and central India in March, he said. Lok Sabha polls are likely to be held in April-May. Mohapatra said that the prevailing El Nino conditions -- the periodic warming of waters in the central Pacific Ocean -- will continue through the summer s

'Bountiful monsoon' expected in India as El Nino conditions weaken

After delivering a warm 2023, El Nino conditions are set to dissipate by June this year raising hopes of "bountiful monsoon" rains this season, meteorologists have predicted. At least two global climate agencies announced last week that El Nino, the warming of the equatorial Pacific Ocean that impacts weather across the world, has started to weaken and there is a probability of La Nina conditions setting in by August. Weather scientists in India, tracking the developments closely, have said that La Nina conditions setting in by June-August could mean monsoon rains would be better this year than the last year. However, they also struck a word of caution citing the 'spring predictability barrier', considered a forecasting headache as weather models have a harder time making accurate forecasts. Madhavan Rajeevan, former secretary in the Ministry of Earth Sciences, said there is a good probability of La Nina developing by June-July. "Even if El Nino transitions into ENSO-neutral ...

January 2024 was world's warmest on record: European climate agency

The world last month experienced the warmest January on record, with the global mean temperature for the past 12 months exceeding the 1.5-degree Celsius threshold, according to the European climate agency. However, this does not imply a permanent breach of the 1.5-degree Celsius limit specified in the Paris agreement, as it refers to long-term warming over many years. Every month since June last year has been the warmest such month on record. Scientists attribute the exceptional warming to the combined effects of El Nio -- a period of abnormal warming of surface waters in the central Pacific Ocean -- and human-caused climate change. The global average temperature in January was 1.66 degrees Celsius above the January average for 1850-1900, the designated pre-industrial reference period. With an average temperature of 13.14 degrees Celsius, January 2024 was 0.12 degrees Celsius warmer than the previous warmest January in 2020, the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) said. Scien

Normal to above-normal rainfall likely in northwest India in February: IMD

After experiencing a drier-than-usual December and January, northwest India is expected to see normal to above-normal rainfall in February, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Wednesday. Addressing a press conference, IMD Director General Mrutyunjay Mohapatra said India cumulatively may experience above-normal rainfall in February. Northwest India recorded just 3.1 mm of rainfall in January, the second lowest since 1901, the IMD said. Northwest India consisting of seven meteorological sub-divisions is most likely to receive above-normal rainfall (more than 122 per cent of the long period average) in February. "Monthly rainfall over the country as a whole during February is most likely to be above normal (more than 119 per cent of the long period average)," Mohapatra said. Normal to above-normal rainfall is predicted over northeast and central India. Below-normal rainfall is likely over south peninsular India. Most parts of the country are likely to witness above-nor

Global warming, not El Nino was primary cause of Amazon drought: Report

Human-induced global warming, and not El Nio, was the primary driver of last year's severe drought in the Amazon that sent rivers to record lows, required deliveries of food and drinking water to hundreds of river communities and killed dozens of endangered dolphins, researchers said on Wednesday. Both climate change and El Nio contributed about equally to a reduction in rainfall. But higher global temperatures were the biggest reason for the drought, according to World Weather Attribution, an initiative that brings together climate scientists to rapidly analyze extreme events and their possible connections to climate change. The drought was agricultural, combining reduced rainfall with hotter conditions that evaporated moisture from plants and soil. It was that heat-driven evaporation that was critical in the drought's severity, said study co-author Friederike Otto, a climate scientist at the Imperial College of London. What is now about a one-in-50-year event would have been much

Snowless Himalayas: Why Kashmir, Himachal, Uttarakhand have no snow this winter

Snowless NW Himalayas: El Nino leads to dry winter, may have ripple effect

High mountain passes with barely any snow, skiers hoping to slalom down white slopes disappointed and tourists calling off trips to hill destinations... the El Nino effect is playing out across the northwest Himalayas with an unusually dry winter and no immediate relief in the offing. According to the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), 2023 was the warmest-on-record year and the warming El Nino event is likely to further fuel the heat in 2024. The El Nino phenomenon occurs when sea surface temperatures (SSTs) are higher than average in the eastern tropical Pacific, and there is a simultaneous weakening of trade winds. The absence of snowfall is not a one-time thing but affects the annual cycle of snow. If it continues longer, it can have a huge cascading effect on socio-economic benefits. If you don't get (enough) snow, you don't get replenishment of water, it will impact agriculture, your health and can, in turn, impact your economy, glaciologist and Himalayan researcher A N

Agri growth pegged at 7-year low of 1.8% in FY24 due to poor Kharif harvest

However, some experts said the GVA numbers could stand to be revised as the initial estimates are based on extrapolation of figures for five-six months and a final picture will emerge only around Feb

Indian coast sees rise in cyclones; 2.9 mn vulnerable people in Andhra only

El Nino, Indian Ocean Dipole, and Madden-Julian Oscillationamong major reasons for rising cyclones