The U.S. weather agency confirms that the El Niño phenomenon has begun and is expected to intensify toward the end of the year, likely worsening heat and extreme weather conditions.
On 11 Jun 2026 GMT+7, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced that the El Niño weather phenomenon has arrived, with scientists predicting it will strengthen later this year, potentially reaching record-breaking intensity in history.
El Niño is a natural climate phenomenon that causes the sea surface temperature in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean to warm, leading to changes in wind patterns, rainfall, and widespread weather variability around the globe.
Scientists are concerned this phenomenon will further worsen global warming already caused by fossil fuel combustion, as well as increase the severity of extreme weather events.
In the latest warning report, NOAA scientists stated, "El Niño conditions formed in the past month," evident from the sea surface temperatures in the Pacific Ocean being above average.
"There is a 63% probability of a very strong El Niño event occurring between November and January 2027 GMT+7, which would rank among the largest El Niño events recorded since 1950," the report said.
Although each El Niño event differs, major events typically follow familiar patterns, including droughts in parts of the Amazon rainforest, Indonesia, and Australia, disruptions to the Indian monsoon, and altered rainfall patterns across tropical regions.
This phenomenon generally occurs every 2 to 7 years and lasts about 9 to 12 months. El Niño usually peaks late in the year, but ocean heat is released slowly into the atmosphere, causing a noticeable rise in global temperatures the following year.
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Source:cna