For the past two months I have been working and living in Paris. According to Strava, I filled my day with an early morning swim in the river, a daily croissant breakfast, and an average of more walking than ever before. It was great.
But living in the City of Lights also brought into focus the world’s rapidly changing climate. During a week at the end of May, I experienced the coldest day of 48 degrees Fahrenheit and rain (I was wearing gloves), but then we had the hottest May Day France has ever reported.
I’ve lived in some pretty hot places, from Los Angeles to Washington DC, but nothing prepared me for the sweltering heat of Paris without air conditioning, just weeks before summer officially started. Experts are now warning that this heatwave is just one example of what’s to come this summer, as a periodic weather phenomenon called El Niño is expected to bring extreme heat and extreme rainfall to various parts of the world.
The United Nations’ meteorological agency, the World Meteorological Organization, announced Tuesday that El Niño, a period of ocean warming in the Pacific Ocean that can have an extreme impact on global heat, has begun. Experts have warned that “almost all parts of the country” are expected to experience above-average temperatures this week, with an increase in extreme weather events.
I have experienced an El Niño phenomenon in the past. I remember a huge flood when I was a child. santa barbara news press Printed photos of residents moving around town in kayaks. But experts say this year’s scheme, which is expected to kick in from June to August and continue into winter, will be more than an inconvenience. And it will spread worldwide.
“El Niño’s footprint extends far beyond its source in the Pacific Ocean, impacting agriculture, energy supplies, trade, water resources, supply chains and livelihoods across the region,” WMO Secretary-General Celeste Sauro told a news conference.
