The climatic phenomenon “La Niña”, which affects global temperatures and exacerbates droughts and floods, could last until the end of the year and have an unprecedented duration for this century, the United Nations Organization (UN) reported on Wednesday.
The prolonged La Niña phenomenon is likely to become the first “triple event” of this century, spanning three consecutive Northern Hemisphere winters (Southern Hemisphere summers), a bulletin released by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said. a UN agency.
If confirmed, it would be the third time since 1950 that this phenomenon has been observed during three consecutive winters, the WMO detailed.
The current La Niña phenomenon, which began in September 2020, will continue for the next six months, according to the bulletin issued.
The probability of this forecast is 70% for the months of September to November and then gradually drops to 55% for the period from December to February 2023, the UN agency explained.
What is the La Niña phenomenon?
“La Niña” is a phenomenon that produces large-scale cooling of surface waters in the central and eastern parts of the equatorial Pacific.
The phenomenon has great repercussions on the climate (precipitation, winds) around the world, as opposed to the “El Niño” phenomenon, which has warming effects on global temperatures.
According to the WMO, the current phenomenon has been intensified by the strengthening of the trade winds between mid-July and mid-August 2022 , which has altered temperature and rainfall patterns and exacerbated droughts and floods in different parts of the world. of the world.
“The exacerbation of drought in the Horn of Africa and southern South America bears the hallmark of La Niña, as does the above-average rainfall observed in Southeast Asia and Australasia.”
“Unfortunately, the latest data on La Niña confirms regional climate projections that pointed to a worsening of the devastating drought in the Horn of Africa , the consequences of which will affect millions of people,” Taalas added.
El Niño and La Niña are important determinants of the Earth’s climate system, but they are not the only ones.
