La Nina

February 6, 2025 9:19 AM

Year begins with warmest January despite shift towards cooling La Nina

Last month was the world's warmest January on record, continuing a streak of extreme global temperatures despite a shift towards the cooling La Nina weather pattern, European Union scientists said on Thursday. January extended a run of extraordinary heat, in which 18 of the last 19 months saw an average global temperature of more than 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial times, the EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) said in a monthly bulletin. That was despite the world shifting ...

December 11, 2024 2:55 PM

More than 50% chance of La Nina in coming months, WMO says

There is more than a 50% chance of La Niña developing in the next three months, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Wednesday, but if it does it will be relatively weak and short-lived. The La Niña pattern involves the cooling of ocean surface temperatures and could break a spell of high temperatures that are set to make 2024 the world's warmest since records began. Forecasts show that there is a 55% likelihood of a transition to La Niña between December 2024 and Feb...

October 15, 2024 12:40 PM

La Nina is becoming less likely, Australia’s weather bureau says

The likelihood of a La Nina weather event in coming months has decreased, Australia's weather bureau said on Tuesday, adding that if the phenomenon did appear, it would be weak and short-lived. The development of La Nina and its opposite, El Nino, are of huge importance to global agriculture, with La Nina typically increasing rainfall in eastern Australia, Southeast Asia and India and reducing rainfall in the Americas. "The chance of a La Nina event developing in the coming months has decrease...

September 16, 2024 6:03 PM

2024 could be world’s hottest year as June breaks records

Last month was the hottest June on record, the EU's climate change monitoring service said on Monday, continuing a streak of exceptional temperatures that some scientists said puts 2024 on track to be the world's hottest recorded year. Every month since June 2023 - 13 months in a row - has ranked as the planet's hottest since records began, compared with the corresponding month in previous years, the European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) said in a monthly bulletin. The lates...

September 16, 2024 6:10 PM

India expects above-average July rainfall after weak June

India is likely to receive above-average rainfall in July after receiving 11% below average in June, the weather department said on Monday, keeping alive the possibility of higher farm output and economic growth in Asia's third-biggest economy. All regions except northeastern states are likely to receive rainfall equating to more than 106% of the 50-year average in July, Mrutyunjay Mohapatra, director-general of the India Meteorological Department (IMD), told a virtual news conference. Summer ...

June 21, 2024 3:25 PM

How climate change fuels extreme heat worldwide

Climate change is driving dangerous heat waves across the Northern Hemisphere this week and will continue to deliver dangerous weather for decades to come, research shows. "It is a worldwide heat wave that we are now suffering. That puts the heat under our decisions," said Christiana Figueres, a former U.N. climate agency chief. Here's how climate change is pushing heat to new extremes. HOW IS CLIMATE CHANGE DRIVING HEAT? As the continued burning of fossil fuels releases more carbon emission...

June 3, 2024 2:43 PM

El Nino weather pattern likely to swing back to La Nina this year: UN weather agency

The El Nino weather pattern that can cause extreme events such as wildfires and tropical cyclones is forecast to swing back into generally cooler La Nina conditions later this year, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Monday. El Nino is a naturally occurring warming of ocean surface temperatures in the eastern and central Pacific, while La Nina is characterised by cold ocean temperatures in the equatorial Pacific region and is linked to floods and drought. WMO said there was a ...