Western Europe is experiencing another summer marked by heat waves and drought, but global temperatures have not yet peaked and are expected to rise towards the end of the year due to the El Niño climate phenomenon, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) announced today, quoted by EFE agency, BTA reported.
"El Niño" is now fully established in the Pacific Ocean. "We expect even higher global temperatures," said John Kennedy, head of the WMO's climate information department.
He said peaks in global temperatures usually occur after the peak of an El Niño event, which usually occurs between November and January.
Kennedy said the current heatwaves in Western Europe were largely the result of long-term global warming caused by greenhouse gas emissions, combined with a persistent pattern of alternating high- and low-pressure systems in the Northern Hemisphere.
In July, extreme heatwaves hit Western Europe, North America and Central Asia. In August, these regions, as well as parts of East Asia, continued to experience unusually high temperatures.
According to the EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service, Western Europe has experienced its warmest June and July on record.
The region is currently experiencing its fourth heatwave of the summer, with temperatures exceeding 35-36 degrees Celsius in France, Switzerland and the UK, WMO spokeswoman Claire Nullis said.
The heat has been accompanied by a prolonged lack of rainfall, which has contributed to record low water levels in major European rivers such as the Seine, Rhine and Danube.
In some parts of Europe, the rainfall deficit is significant and has been building up for months. Nullis warned that a summer storm would not be enough to restore river levels and soil moisture.
Hungary, Serbia and other countries along the Adriatic coast estimate that between 250 and 350 millimeters of additional rainfall will be needed to make up for the accumulated deficit.
Meanwhile, other parts of the world are facing the opposite problem. Heavy monsoon rains are affecting Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent, with flooding in the region at risk this week.