Scientists say this summer could be the world's hottest on record, even as the warming effect of El Nino fades out to be replaced with the cooling La Nina. Selwin Hart, UN special adviser on climate change, has warned that the recent spate of heatwaves is a sign of things to come. The latest El Nino, which began in June 2023, peaked among the five strongest such events on record, according to the World Meteorological Organisation. In May, the EU's Copernicus climate change service said El Nino continued to weaken “towards neutral conditions”. And in the context of a warming planet due to human-caused climate change, scientists say that the cooling effect may be minuscule.
