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UN warns heat records could be broken as chance of El Niño rises

Severe droughts can occur in Australia, Indonesia and parts of southern Asia during an El Niño pattern. (Credit: Outback Australia/Alamy)

Climate Signal: Climate change is worsening the frequency, intensity, and duration of heat waves, threatening human health. Check out our Extreme El Niño Frequency Increase, Extreme Heat and Heat Waves & Heat-Related Illness pages for more information.

Article Summary:

The chance of an El Niño weather phenomenon developing in the coming months has risen, the United Nations has said, warning that it could fuel higher global temperatures and possibly new heat records.

The UN’s World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Wednesday that it now estimated there was a 60% chance that El Niño would develop by the end of July, and an 80% chance it would do so by the end of September.

“This will change the weather and climate patterns worldwide,” Wilfran Moufouma Okia, the head of the WMO’s regional climate prediction services division, told reporters in Geneva.

Full Story: The Guardian