The World Meteorological Organization announced on Thursday that the El Niño weather pattern is expected to escalate through 2027, potentially becoming the most intense event on record. Secretary-General Celeste Saulo stated that if the current trend persists, it could surpass any previous monitoring data over the past four decades.
Forecast data from the UN weather agency indicates a high probability of El Niño persisting until February 2027, driven by unusually warm Pacific Ocean temperatures. This level of certainty has not been expressed before, marking a significant development according to the WMO.
A powerful El Niño can cause significant disruptions to global rainfall and temperature patterns, leading to extreme weather events like typhoons. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres emphasized the unprecedented scale of the current El Niño event, highlighting the undeniable impact of climate change on our planet.
El Niño, characterized by periodic warming of sea surface temperatures in the eastern Pacific due to weakened trade winds, occurs naturally every few years and typically lasts up to a year, affecting weather patterns across various regions. The ongoing El Niño has already affected agricultural production in tropical regions, triggering a severe food crisis in Central America’s Dry Corridor.
The WMO expects El Niño to peak later this year but anticipates its effects to extend into 2027, leading to elevated global temperatures in the following year. Saulo emphasized the organization’s commitment to enhancing preparedness and early warning systems to mitigate the potential impact of the weather phenomenon.
Collaborating with partners within the UN and humanitarian sectors, the WMO aims to provide critical climate intelligence to support disaster management and climate-sensitive industries such as agriculture, health, energy, and water resources.
