WMO chief says El Nino could be strongest in four decades

Oliver Farry is pleased to welcome Inger Andersen, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme. Her central argument is that decades of what she calls “carbon procrastination” have made exceeding 1.5°C unavoidable: the question is therefore no longer simply whether the world crosses 1.5°C, but by how much, for how long, and with what consequences for vulnerable societies and ecosystems. While mitigation remains essential, adaptation becomes equally important as sea-level rise and glacier loss, will continue even as emissions fall.

In Tunisia, powerful heatwaves are driving power cuts and water shortage. While the country has been dealing with structural water scarcity and recurring drought for years, the current crisis is fuelling anger against the government, even as authorities attempt to coordinate water distribution efforts to quell the crisis.

Bureau of Meteorology suggests El Niño has already broken records, with Pacific ocean temperature change exceeding 2C in six months Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Sign up for climate and environment editor Adam Morton’s free Clear Air newsletter here The growing El Niño weather phenomenon to Australia’s east is already breaking heat records, with forecasts showing it will likely easily surpass previous events, according to Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology, as seperate research suggested climate change had greatly shortened the odds of the event hitting record extremes. On Thursday the UN’s weather agency said the event in the Pacific was continuing to strengthen and would probably persist until early 2027, warning it had the “potential to deliver a massive blow to communities and economies across the world”..