EL NINO CONDITIONS DUE THIS MONTH
Asian fires have burned as much as 44 million hectares of land so far this year, nearly 40 per cent more than the previous record year of 2014, with India, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos and China among the worst hit, Keeping said.
He warned that wildfire risks could worsen later this year, with El Nino increasing the likelihood of severe heat and drought in Australia, Canada, the United States and the Amazon rainforest.
“The likelihood of harmful extreme fires potentially could be the highest we’ve seen in recent history if a strong El Nino does develop,” he said.
El Nino weather conditions, caused by the warming of sea surface temperatures in the Pacific Ocean, are expected to start in May, the World Meteorological Organization said last month.
It could cause droughts in Australia, Indonesia and parts of southern Asia as well as flooding in other regions, and may drive up temperatures, the UN agency warned.
“If there is a strong El Nino later this year, there is a serious risk that the effect of climate change and El Nino … will result in unprecedented weather extremes,” said Friederike Otto, climate scientist at Imperial College London and co-founder of World Weather Attribution.
