The start of El Niño

For the first time in seven years, El Niño conditions have developed in the tropical Pacific. This will likely cause surge in global temperatures, as well as disruptive weather and climate patterns.
 
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) expects that the event will continue during the second half of the year.
El Niño occurs every 2 to 7 years on average, and lasts generally 9 to 12 months.
 
El Niño events are usually associated with increased rainfall in parts of southern South America, the southern United States, the Horn of Africa and central Asia.
In contrast, it can also lead to severe droughts in Australia, Indonesia, parts of southern Asia, Central America and northern South America.
Generally, El Niño has the opposite effect of the recent La Niña, which ended earlier in 2023.

Heatwaves are hitting large parts of the northern hemisphere. The World Meteorological Organization continuously monitors temperatures and potential new continental temperature records.
“The extreme weather – an increasingly frequent occurrence in our warming climate – is having a major impact on human health, ecosystems, economies, agriculture, energy and water supplies. This underlines the increasing urgency of cutting greenhouse gas emissions as quickly and as deeply as possible,” declared WMO Secretary-General Prof. Petteri Taalas.
 
In Europe, the national meteorological services in Spain and Italy warned of temperatures well above 40°C and issued red alerts.
In North America, the heatwave is intensifying, and at risk areas include California, Nevada, Arizona, Florida. In Canada, wildfires continue to burn big forest areas, with already more than 9 million hectares already burnt this year.
The province of Xinjiang, China, had a new national temperature record of 52.2°C on July 16.

Sources:
 
https://www.potatopro.com/news/2023/world-meteorological-organization-declares-start-el-ni%C3%B1o-what-expect
 
https://public.wmo.int/en/media/news/simultaneous-heatwaves-hit-northern-hemisphere-summer-of-extremes