Share to ClassroomMet Office Warns of Record El Niño
The El Niño now growing in the Pacific Ocean may be the strongest that people alive today have ever seen. That is the warning from the Met Office, Britain's weather service. Scientists say an El Niño has started when the sea surface in a key part of the Pacific becomes 0.5C warmer than usual. It is already more than 2C warmer, and it may pass 3C later this year. Nothing this strong appears in records since 1950.
El Niño is a natural pattern. It returns every two to seven years and lasts about a year. The winds that usually blow from east to west across the Pacific become weak, so warm water moves east. Heat leaves the ocean and enters the air. This makes the whole world warmer and changes where rain falls. The deep ocean is also very warm this time, which gives the event more power.
The changes have started. The summer monsoon in India is much weaker than normal, and the Atlantic has had only three named storms. The Met Office says 2027 will very likely become the warmest year ever recorded. Britain may have a wet and stormy autumn. Australia may have a drought, while Peru, Ecuador and the southern United States may have floods. Forecasters expect more snow than usual in California and Nevada.
