El Niño chance in Pacific may push global temperatures to record highs in 2027

Weather agencies and climate scientists have pointed to the possibility of an El Niño forming in the Pacific Ocean later this year, a phenomenon that could push global temperatures to all-time record highs in 2027. The US government's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Australia's Bureau of Meteorology said some climate models forecast an El Niño, but both cautioned the results carried uncertainties.

Experts said it was too early to be confident, though signals in the spread of sea surface temperatures suggested an El Niño could form in 2026. The El Niño southern oscillation (ENSO) links cycles of ocean temperatures in the Pacific with extreme weather worldwide.

When warmer-than-average waters gather in the eastern equatorial Pacific and extend to the coast of the Americas, El Niño tends to boost global temperatures and can be associated with drier, hotter conditions in Australia.

United States, Australia