Earth is under an “El Niño watch” as scientists eye signs that the climate pattern is developing.
Its arrival could mean significant impacts worldwide, including a push toward levels of global warming that climate scientists have warned could be devastating.
Since March, a rapid increase in average ocean temperatures has been helping to fuel speculation that El Niño is imminent. The pattern could mark a quick departure from an unusually extended spell of El Niño’s inverse counterpart, La Niña, which scientists say ended in February.
