{"id":479781,"date":"2026-06-02T20:44:12","date_gmt":"2026-06-02T20:44:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/479781\/"},"modified":"2026-06-02T20:44:12","modified_gmt":"2026-06-02T20:44:12","slug":"un-urges-world-to-be-ready-for-el-nino-extreme-heat-risk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/479781\/","title":{"rendered":"UN urges world to be ready for El Ni\u00f1o extreme heat risk"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The World Meteorological Organisation has confirmed that warm waters in the tropical Pacific Ocean are fuelling the development of a significant &#8216;El Ni\u00f1o&#8217; planet-warming event, which will increase global temperatures and drive more extreme weather and rainfall events in the months ahead.<\/p>\n<p>It said its forecasting models are 80% certain that above-average temperatures are likely to be recorded almost everywhere from June to August.<\/p>\n<p>There is also a 90% likelihood that the warming impact of the El Ni\u00f1o phenomenon will continue and intensify out to November and beyond.<\/p>\n<p>UN Secretary General Ant\u00f3nio Guterres said the world must treat the message from the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) as the urgent climate warning it is and warned that El Ni\u00f1o conditions will pour fuel on the fire of a warming world.<\/p>\n<p>He said the impacts will hit even harder, travel even farther, and cross borders with devastating speed.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Infographic with maps of the Pacific ocean showing the rise in monthly sea surface temperatures \" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/00247628-614.jpg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Read more: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rte.ie\/news\/2026\/0531\/1576038-europe-average-temps\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Scientists fear rising temperatures may become new normal<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Watch: El Ni\u00f1o arriving with 90% certainty, says UN&#8217;s Guterres<\/p>\n<p alt=\"El Ni\u00f1o arriving with 90% certainty, says UN's Guterres\" data-embed=\"comcast-player\" data-guid=\"epic-mpx-manual-32922\" data-id=\"cJirQnnKdvE0\" data-thumbnail=\"https:\/\/www.rte.ie\/images\/00247672-900.jpg\">\n<p>The ocean warming events that drive the El Ni\u00f1o process are one of the most powerful naturally occurring climate patterns on Earth.<\/p>\n<p>It is characterised by a warming of ocean surface temperatures in the central and eastern Equatorial Pacific.<\/p>\n<p>It typically occurs every two to seven years and lasts around nine to 12 months.<\/p>\n<p>It generally begins developing between March and June and reaches its peak intensity between November and February, with impacts on global temperatures typically being most pronounced in the second year after development.<\/p>\n<p>There is no evidence that climate change increases the frequency or intensity of El Ni\u00f1o events.<\/p>\n<p>However, the additional background atmospheric heating caused by climate change can amplify the impacts associated with an El Ni\u00f1o.<\/p>\n<p>Conditions oscillate between El Ni\u00f1o and its opposite La Ni\u00f1a, with neutral conditions in between.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"View of a drought-affected corn plantation \" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/002475d0-614.jpg\"\/><br \/>\nEl Ni\u00f1o conditions could affect global temperature and rainfall patterns<\/p>\n<p>Meteorologists are predicting that although global temperatures will be elevated this year, next year 2027, is already shaping up to be the hottest year on record.<\/p>\n<p>Secretary General of the WMO Andrea Celeste Saulo said the world needs to prepare for a potentially strong El Ni\u00f1o event, which will exacerbate drought and heavy rainfall and increase the risk of heatwaves both on land and in the ocean.<\/p>\n<p>The most recent El Ni\u00f1o, in 2023 and 2024, was one of the five strongest on record and it played a role in the record global temperatures in 2024.<\/p>\n<p>Typical impacts of El Ni\u00f1o events include increased rainfall in parts of southern South America, the southern United States, parts of the Horn of Africa and central Asia, and drier conditions over Central America, northern South America, the Caribbean, Australia, Indonesia, and parts of southern Asia.<\/p>\n<p>El Ni\u00f1o&#8217;s warm water also tends to fuel hurricanes in the central and eastern Pacific Ocean.<\/p>\n<p>However, it usually hinders hurricane formation in the Atlantic Basin, where a quieter storm season can impact Ireland.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"A finger points at a display depicting el nino weather patterns \" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/002475ce-614.jpg\"\/><br \/>\nWMO is warning of above normal temperatures<\/p>\n<p>The forecasted maps of global warming and precipitation published by the WMO alongside its El Ni\u00f1o update suggest that Ireland will experience less rainfall due to the El Ni\u00f1o.<\/p>\n<p>Ireland was among many countries in Europe which saw record-breaking temperatures last month.<\/p>\n<p>At the same time, the WMO indications suggest that while temperatures in Ireland are likely to be above normal, the country is likely to escape the main warming impacts caused by the coming El Ni\u00f1o event.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Infographic explainer on the El Nino weather phenomenon\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/002475d2-614.jpg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Regional climate centres are predicting &#8220;below-normal&#8221; rainfall during the critical June-September rainy season in the northern Greater Horn of Africa; below-average monsoon rainfall in south Asia; and drier and warmer summer conditions in central America.<\/p>\n<p>During the northern hemisphere summer, warm waters associated with El Ni\u00f1o can fuel hurricanes in the central and eastern Pacific, while hindering their development in the Atlantic Ocean.<\/p>\n<p>The WMO hopes advance warning will guide preparedness, especially in climate-sensitive sectors like agriculture, water management, energy and health.<\/p>\n<p>Additional reporting AFP<\/p>\n<p alt=\"UN urges the world to ready for extreme heat risk from El Ni\u00f1o\" class=\"tpe\" data-description=\"The World Meteorological Organisation has confirmed that warm waters in the tropical Pacific Ocean are fuelling the development of a significant 'El Ni\u00f1o' planet-warming event, which will increase global temperatures and drive more extreme weather and rainfall events in the months ahead\" data-embed=\"rte-player\" data-id=\"22618151\" data-ot-category=\"C0004\" data-title=\"The World Meteorological Organisation has confirmed that warm waters in the tropical Pacific Ocean are fuelling the development of a significant 'El Ni\u00f1o' planet-warming event, which will increase global temperatures and drive more extreme weather and rainfall events in the months ahead\" id=\"22618151\">We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.<a class=\"blocked-button\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rte.ie\/news\/environment\/2026\/0602\/1576289-el-nino-un\/javascript:void(0);\" onclick=\"OneTrust.ToggleInfoDisplay()\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Manage Preferences<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The World Meteorological Organisation has confirmed that warm waters in the tropical Pacific Ocean are fuelling the development&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":478898,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[246,61,60,82],"class_list":["post-479781","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-environment","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/479781","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=479781"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/479781\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/478898"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=479781"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=479781"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=479781"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}