GENEVA, Dec 11, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - The cooling weather phenomenon La Nina could 
appear in coming months, but if it does it will likely be too "weak and 
short-lived" to significantly impact soaring global temperatures, the UN said 
Wednesday.

There is currently a 55-percent likelihood of La Nina conditions emerging by 
the end of February, the United Nations' World Meteorological Organization 
said in its latest update.

There was a similar chance of the phenomenon developing between February and 
April, it added.

The WMO had earlier this year voiced hope the return of La Nina would help 
lower temperatures slightly after months of global heat records fuelled in 
part by La Nina's opposite number, the warming El Nino weather pattern, which 
gripped the planet for a year from June 2023.

But WMO chief Celeste Saulo warned in Wednesday's statement that a possible 
La Nina would have little impact following a 2024, which is on track to be 
the hottest year on record.

"Even if a La Nina event does emerge, its short-term cooling impact will be 
insufficient to counterbalance the warming effect of record heat-trapping 
greenhouse gases in the atmosphere," she said.

"Even in the absence of El Nino or La Nina conditions since May, we have 
witnessed an extraordinary series of extreme weather events, including 
record-breaking rainfall and flooding which have unfortunately become the new 
norm in our changing climate."

La Nina refers to a naturally occurring climate phenomenon that cools the 
ocean surface temperatures in large swathes of the tropical Pacific Ocean, 
coupled with winds, rains and changes in atmospheric pressure.

In many locations, especially in the tropics, La Nina produces the opposite 
climate impacts to El Nino, which heats up the surface of the oceans, leading 
to drought in some parts of the world and triggering heavy downpours 
elsewhere.

While both are natural climate events, WMO stressed they were "taking place 
in the broader context of human-induced climate change, which is increasing 
global temperatures, exacerbating extreme weather and climate, and impacting 
seasonal rainfall and temperature patterns".