GENEVA — The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) released a forecast on Monday stating that this year's El Nino is growing stronger and is expected to become the worst ever recorded.
According to the UN agency, peak three-month average surface ocean temperatures in the east-central tropical Pacific Ocean will exceed 2 degrees Celsius (35.6 degrees Fahrenheit) above normal, and ocean conditions are comparable to those before the disastrous El Nino winters of 1972-73, 1982-83 and 1997-98.
During those periods, El Nino wreaked havoc across the western United States and in parts of South Asia, South America and East Africa.
"This naturally occurring El Nino event and human-induced climate change may interact and modify each other in ways which we have never before experienced," WMO Secretary-General Michel Jarraud told a news conference on Monday, Reuters reported.
"Even before the onset of El Nino, global average surface temperatures had reached new records. El Nino is turning up the heat even further," Jarraud said.
More frequent heat waves and the rising of sea levels are expected to bring more flooding and tsunamis, while severe storms equivalent to category 4 and 5 hurricanes will also occur more often.
To the continental United States, El Nino is expected to bring a strong winter, with bitter cold weather and heavy rain in the southern portion of the country. The Pacific Northwest region on the other hand, will be hit by a warmer and drier winter, which will most likely aggravate the already problematic drought in the area.
El Nino usually reaches maximum strength between October and January but persists until May before reaching neutral conditions. According to LiveScience, however, it is often followed by La Nina, a separate weather pattern that causes opposite effects to the ones associated with El Nino.
La Nina's effects are also becoming more extreme due to global warming.
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