WMO Forecasts Weak La Niña Amid Climate Change

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has forecasted a 55% likelihood of La Niña conditions developing between December 2024 and February 2025. Despite this possibility, La Niña is expected to be weak and short-lived, insufficient to counteract the warming effects of greenhouse gases, which continue to push 2024 towards being the hottest year on record. La Niña involves a cooling of ocean surface temperatures in the equatorial Pacific and can influence global weather patterns, but its impact will be limited due to ongoing climate change. The weakening forecast from a previous 60% probability is attributed to strong westerly wind anomalies that hinder its development. Although multiple models have predicted La Niña since July, they have proven inaccurate due to the underestimated effect of global warming on ocean temperatures. The developments occur against a backdrop of human-induced climate change, intensifying weather extremes and altering rainfall patterns.