Climate: the El Nino weather phenomenon, favoring record temperatures, has begun

Europe 1 with AFP / Photo credits: Lisa Maree Williams / GETTY IMAGES ASIAPAC / Getty Images via AFP 16:20 p.m., June 08, 2023

The El Nino weather phenomenon, usually associated with rising global temperatures, has officially begun and is expected to "gradually strengthen" in the coming months, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said Thursday. El Nino is a phenomenon characterized by warmer-than-normal surface temperatures in the equatorial Pacific Ocean, but it has consequences for the entire planet. It "could lead to new temperature records" in some areas, NOAA climatologist Michelle L'Heureux said in a statement.

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2023-2027 is expected to be the warmest period ever recorded on Earth

In May, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) warned that the period 2023-2027 would almost certainly be the warmest on record on Earth, under the combined effect of El Nino and global warming caused by greenhouse gas emissions. El Nino occurs about every two to seven years, and climatologists have been predicting its arrival for several months this year.

The opposite phenomenon, La Nina, which tends instead to cause a drop in temperatures, had been present for three years. "Depending on its strength, El Nino can cause a range of consequences, such as increasing the risk of heavy rainfall or drought in some parts of the world," L'Heureux said. "Climate change can exacerbate or mitigate some of the impacts related to El Nino," she said.

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In general, El Nino tends to moderate hurricane activity in the Atlantic, but favor them in the Pacific, according to NOAA.