Scientists warn of a rise in temperatures in 2023

While impacts from the El Niño phenomenon generally affect the central eastern Pacific, Professor Andy Turned of the University of Reading warns that this year the impacts could spread "to the mid-latitudes of the northern hemisphere, with a likelihood of wetter conditions in Spain beginning in the summer and drier conditions on the east coast of the United States over the following winter and spring."

 

El Niño and La Niña are opposite phases of the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO), a temperature variation between the ocean and the atmosphere over the eastern central tropical Pacific. El Niño is a warm phase while La Niña is a cold phase. These phases are irregular and occur once every few years, for a period of months to years. The warm phase occurs more frequently than the cold phase.

 

2016 was the hottest year on record, due to the major El Niño phenomenon.