UN tells world to brace for extreme weather as El Nino looms

Key Takeaways

• Potential impacts, including drought, heatwaves and hurricanes, could ‘hit even harder’ this year, UN chief warns.
• The United Nations’ climate agency has warned of an increased risk of extreme weather in the coming weeks and months due to the emerging El Nino weather pattern.
• The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) issued the alert in a news release on Tuesday, saying that there was an 80 percent chance of an El Nino event – marked by unusually warm sea surface temperatures in the central and eastern Pacific Ocean- between June and August and a roughly 90 percent chance of it forming by November.
• “The science is clear: El Nino is arriving on our doorstep in the coming months with 90 percent certainty,” said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in a video statement.
• “The world must treat it as the urgent climate warning it is.” Bringing worldwide changes in winds, pressure and rainfall patterns, El Nino is a naturally occurring phenomenon that generally happens every two to seven years and lasts about nine to 12 months.