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3rd May 2023
07:35am BST
Scientists say an 'El Niño' weather event could bring the hottest day that the world has ever seen this year.
After several years of concerningly high temperatures, the record books could be re-written yet again in the coming months due to a phenomenon that takes place in the central southern Pacific Ocean.
Redistribution of heat into the ocean drives weather patterns across the Pacific and around the globe - and scientists say ocean temperatures have been on the rise since March.
The last El Niño event occurred in 2018-2019, however this was weak. The one prior to that was 2016 which saw a strong event take place and coincided with the hottest year on record globally.
Current climate models suggest that there is a 62 percent chance of El Niño by July, and a 90 percent chance of it developing by the end of the year.
It coud lead to higher global temperatures, including even perhaps the highest temperatures ever recorded on earth.
Robert Rohde from Berkeley Earth told the Washington Post: “If El Niño develops, it is likely to moderately boost global average temperatures during the rest of 2023 and into 2024.”
Netweather forecaster, Nick Finnis, meanwhike, told the Daily Express: “It could push the world past a new average temperature record with help from climate change induced global warming.”
The current highest temperature ever recorded was 56.7C which came in Death Valley, California back in 2013.
Last year saw temperatures over 40C in the UK, the hottest temperatures ever recorded here.
Finnis continued: "The UK may not see any dramatic temperature rises this year, but El Niño could result in higher temperatures next year, more particularly in summer."
He added that south-east Asia, India, Australia, parts of the Amazon and southern Africa are the places likely to see the most extreme heat.
Michael McPhaden, a senior scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, told the WP: “We’re likely going to see the same kind of sequence play out,
“We’re going to see again this big ramp-up in global mean surface temperatures.”
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