Next year is set to be the hottest on record
20 April 06:12
The world should brace itself for extreme heat. This is due to El Niño: a sharp warming of surface waters at the equator in the Pacific Ocean, which affects weather patterns across the globe.
This is reported by "Komersant Ukrainian" with reference to Grani.
El Niño (Spanish for “The Little One”) is a climatic phenomenon characterized by an abnormal rise in surface water temperatures in the equatorial part of the ocean. It occurs once every 2–7 years, lasts about 9–12 months, and significantly affects weather worldwide, causing droughts, floods, and other natural disasters.
The last time El Niño formed was in 2023—and we remember its consequences in the form of the scorching summer of 2024. That’s why it’s called “the little one”—it’s born before Christmas but reveals its unbearable nature months later.
However, forecasters predict that the new El Niño will be much stronger and will be the most powerful in the last decade.
Since it causes massive amounts of heat to be released from the oceans into the atmosphere, this will raise the average global temperature.
And so, it would seem, well, if you’re going to raise the planet’s temperature, do it evenly—but no. Droughts are expected in the tropics, while other regions will face extreme flooding. In India, monsoon rains will be at risk, posing threats to agriculture. And so it goes—everywhere. For Europe, the intensification of El Niño creates the risk of numerous blocking anticyclones, which bring prolonged periods of abnormal heat and drought.
Overall, our planet is already warming at an accelerating rate, but a strong El Niño could speed up this process even further—by at least several years. If we imagine climate change as moving up an escalator, then an El Niño year is like jumping on that escalator, allowing us to reach new temperature highs.
Right now, we’re not just expecting a Little One, but a Super Little One: a scorching summer in 2026 and a super-hot one in 2027. And we’re not just talking about weather you can escape from by staying indoors with the AC on.
“These weather and climate impacts are altering crop yields, disease spread, the condition of coral reefs, fisheries, and many other aspects of the Earth system that affect our daily lives,” warn experts from the World Meteorological Organization.
No one knows what to do about it. One thing is clear: this is about the natural evolution of the planet, which we are powerless to influence. And, of course, we could follow Europe’s lead and introduce “green taxes,” fining companies for excess CO2 emissions (which looks ridiculous compared to the emissions from burning oil refineries in the Persian Gulf—all EU factories combined wouldn’t pollute the atmosphere as much in a year as the missiles in the Middle East have).
But in reality, the anthropogenic factor is nothing compared to the global climate changes that periodically affect our planet, regardless of whether human civilization exists on it or not. Global warming has repeatedly alternated with global cooling, and vice versa. And if it is already underway, no wind turbines or solar panels, no total switch to electric vehicles, and no complete abandonment of fossil fuels will save us from it.
