BoM forecasts strong El Niño and warns climate change could amplify any effects on Australia

El Niño events linked with extreme weather around the world – and can increase risk of bushfires in Australia and coral bleaching on Great Barrier Reef

The Bureau of Meteorology has officially declared an El Niño – the phenomenon linked to hotter and drier conditions for Australia – is now locked in place in the tropical Pacific Ocean.

The bureau warned climate change would amplify the effects on Australia, including the risk of extreme heat and bushfires.

In an update, the bureau said El Niño was now “underway in the tropical Pacific” because the atmosphere was now reacting to the higher than average sea surface temperatures.

The east to west trade winds were weakening and pressure and cloud patterns were consistent with El Niño, the BoM said.

Forecasts were pointing to a strong or very strong event, the bureau said, adding the strength did not “necessarily mean strong impacts on Australia’s climate”.

The strength of El Niño events are gauged by sea surface temperatures in a specific region of the tropical Pacific and how much hotter they are than the long-term average.

The bureau said past El Niño events had coincided with lower winter and spring rainfall, particularly in Australia’s eastern half, higher daytime temperatures in the south and an increased frost risk because of clearer skies.