Today's News

The latest information that there is a growing possibility that El Nino would develop into the strongest level in the history of meteorological observations was released, arousing public concern.

BBC reported the estimates of the weather station that the temperature of the sea surface may rise over 3℃ higher than the normal year in the middle part of the equatorial Pacific in the end of this year. The British national weather bureau forecasted that in that case, it would be the strongest El Nino episodes in the light of not only official observation records after 1950 but also restored data of the 19th century and, therefore, 2027 may be the hottest year since meteorological observation.

The marine meteorological institute of a country also announced that the temperature of sea surface in the middle part of the equatorial Pacific in July, which is used to judge the strength of El Nino, was 1. 4℃ higher than the average year. Saying that in the waters to further east, the difference in the sea surface temperature with the normal year was more than 2°C and in some waters up to 10°C, the institute reported that the probability that El Nino would reach a very strong level is over 90%.

El Nino is a natural climatic phenomenon that the temperature of the sea surface rises higher than the normal state in the wide area of the equatorial Pacific centring on the sea off Peru.

According to meteorological experts, El Nino episodes occur every two to seven years and last for about nine months or 1 year and so there is a strong possibility that upcoming El Nino may develop for several months more and break the records.

This year, the temperature on seawater surface is increasing to or near the top level in the waters from 60° South Latitude to 60° North Latitude except the polar regions. Experts are of the opinion that it is by no means irrelevant to the strong development of El Nino. They attribute it mainly to the fact that the sea has got warm for decades by global warming and it is accompanied by El Nino.

Immeasurable are the direct and indirect damage caused by El Nino, including extreme heat wave, high temperature, drought and forest fire, heavy rain and flood and the destruction of ecological environment and reduction of agricultural production entailed by them.

Recently, the World Food Programme said that El Nino is expected to reach its peak, predicting it would have a serious impact on agricultural production in the eastern and southern regions of Africa. And it warned that considering these regions have already suffered a serious crisis due to conflicts, poverty and economic instability, the strong impact of El Nino in the future would cause unprecedentedly damaging consequences, with the result that 49 million people would additionally face food shortage by the end of 2027.

Meanwhile, the Panamanian government declared a national emergency to cope with the crises of flood, landslide, drought and others, saying that El Nino episodes are expected to have strong effects from October to March next year.