El Niño is here and bringing record temperatures this June. As of this month, the global shift has officially arrived and is “expected to gradually strengthen into the Northern Hemisphere winter 2023-24,” according to a recent announcement from NOAA.
There have been several signs of El Niño’s development this year. Global temperatures have risen this June at alarming rates noticed by scientists, the Guardian reported. The global temperatures recorded so far this month have been higher than average compared to average air temperatures.
And more alarmingly, the higher temperatures are also affecting wildlife. According to Reuters, Mexican officials recently announced that the death of hundreds of wild birds in several states along the Pacific Coast was likely caused by El Niño conditions. About 300 wild birds were found dead throughout multiple states including Chiapas, Michoacan, and Guerrero. At first, Mexican authorities thought that avian flu was to blame for the mass deaths. Many of the birds specifically died of starvation, the Associated Press reported. When the ocean is hotter, many species of fish leave shallow waters for deeper, colder waters. This makes it harder for the birds to find enough food.
The global weather pattern is the opposite of its “sister,” La Niña which is associated with lower-than-average ocean temperatures. El Niño years see higher-than-average ocean temperatures, which we have seen in both the Pacific and Atlantic oceans this year. The combination of El Niño conditions and fossil fuel emissions that are strengthening the climate crisis are making for a long hot summer for the northern hemisphere.
El Niño years are supposed to be hot. This was true in 2016, one of the hottest years on record, according to the World Meteorological Organization. And parts of the U.S. are all seeing especially hot weather this year, including Texas and Puerto Rico. And just last month, the Pacific Northwest saw an especially early heat wave. More high temperatures are probably on their way this summer.
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