Super El Nino set to make 2026 record hottest year
BRUSSELS: An intensifying El Nino pattern set an all-time temperature high in a key Pacific zone in September and could help make this year the hottest globally on record, the director of the EU’s climate monitor said on Monday. Global forecasters have been warning for months that this El Nino would likely become the strongest ever observed and the latest record has tumbled even before the…
BRUSSELS - The Copernicus Climate Change Service warns that a powerful El Nino pattern, already at record levels in September, could make 2026 the warmest year on record globally. El Nino, a natural climate cycle, raises sea temperatures in the tropical Pacific, leading to more frequent droughts and floods and accelerating man-made global warming.
Sea surface temperatures in the Nino3.4 region, a key monitoring area, hit an all-time high of 29.70 degrees Celsius, surpassing previous strong El Nino peaks in 1982/1983, 1997/1998, and 2015/2016. Copernicus director Carlo Buontempo describes this year's El Nino as "very exceptional," though it's too early to determine if it's the strongest ever.
The agency has introduced a new index that accounts for ocean warming, indicating the current event may not yet be stronger than past ones. Despite this, Buontempo believes that 2026 and 2027 could both set record temperatures, given the combination of this intense El Nino and human-induced climate change.
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