Nino | Pakistan

A powerful El Nino weather event could push an additional nearly 49 million people into acute food insecurity across some of the world’s most vulnerable regions by the end of next year, the World Food Programme (WFP) said on Wednesday. The UN agency said in a report that there was an 81 per cent chance of a very strong El Nino event, with sea surface temperatures at their warmest levels since at least 1982 and potentially making it the strongest such event since 1950. El Nino, a periodic warming of ocean surface temperatures in the Pacific, alters global weather patterns and is often associated with drought in Southern Africa, delayed monsoons in parts of Asia and erratic rainfall elsewhere. “These are events that in the past have triggered large-scale hunger,” Jean-Martin Bauer, director of WFP’s Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Service, told reporters. Based on an analysis of 45 countries deemed vulnerable to the adverse effects of El Nino, WFP estimates that the number of people facing acute food insec...

The El Nino weather pattern picked up strength over the past month and is highly likely to “rank among the largest” ever recorded when it peaks between October and December, US forecasters said Thursday. El Nino warms surface temperatures in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean, triggering worldwide changes in winds, atmospheric pressure and rainfall patterns, and pushing warmer overall global temperatures. In its latest update, the US Climate Prediction Centre (CPC) said there is an 81 per cent chance of a “very strong” El Nino between October and December that would rank among the largest such events in the historic record going back to 1950. “Very strong” is defined as being 2.0 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) or more above an index value. The CPC also put the odds at 97pc that the event will persist through early spring 2027. That adds to a prediction made by Tim Stockdale, an El Nino expert of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, who said this week it would be “a v...

The current El Nino weather phenomenon is expected to break records for its overall strength, a top expert said Tuesday, as regions face the risk of droughts, floods and other extremes linked to the event. El Nino warms surface temperatures in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean, bringing worldwide changes in winds, pressure and rainfall patterns. It typically takes place every two to seven years and lasts around nine to 12 months, and it can lead to droughts in some parts of the world and flooding in others. This year’s El Nino is unlike anything seen in more than three decades of tracking the phenomenon, with forecast models pointing to an “extreme” event, said Tim Stockdale, an El Nino expert at the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), an intergovernmental organisation. “I think it’s absolutely true to say we’ve never had a forecast of an El Nino that was so strong and so consistent across (forecast) models,” he said in a media briefing. Stockdale said it would be “a ver...

The weather phenomenon El Nino has arrived, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said Thursday, and scientists expect it will intensify into the end of the year, potentially to historic strength. El Nino is a natural climate phenomenon that warms surface temperatures in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean, bringing worldwide changes in winds, rainfall patterns and erratic weather. And scientists fear it will exacerbate the heat of a planet already warming from burning fossil fuels, while amping up weather extremes. In its latest advisory NOAA scientists said “El Nino conditions developed over the past month” as shown by those above-average sea surface temperatures in the Pacific. “There is a 63 per cent chance of a very strong El Nino during November-January that would rank among the largest El Nino events in the historical record going back to 1950,” the advisory read. Every El Nino is different, but major events often follow familiar patterns. This includes drought acro...

The warming El Nino weather phenomenon, which pushed global temperatures to record highs the last time around, is expected back in the middle of this year, the UN said Friday. The United Nations’ weather and climate agency said El Nino conditions were likely as early as the May to July three-month window. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) meanwhile said early signs indicated a strong event. El Nino is a naturally-occurring climate phenomenon that warms surface temperatures in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean. It brings changes in winds, pressure and rainfall patterns. Conditions oscillate between El Nino and its opposite La Nina, with neutral conditions in between. The last El Nino contributed to making 2023 the second-hottest year on record and 2024 the all-time high. “After a period of neutral conditions at the start of the year… there is high confidence in the onset of El Nino, followed by further intensification,” said Wilfran Moufouma Okia, the WMO’s climate prediction chief. “M...