‘We are waiting with bated breath’: gathering El Niño could be the strongest on record, BoM says

The brief

The El Niño climate phenomenon linked to record global temperatures and now locked in place in the Pacific Ocean could develop into the strongest on record, according to Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology. Climatologists are watching the strengthening El Niño with increasing alarm, saying the forecasts from climate models in the coming months are “mind blowing” and “astounding”. Globally, experts have said a strong El Niño could work in tandem with global heating to deliver the hottest year on record either this year or, more likely, in 2027. The bureau has stressed that the strength of an El Niño does not necessarily correlate with the strength of impacts in Australia, but…