Post by European Space Agency - ESA

A new El Niño is coming. And we can see its first signs from space!🛰️ This video shows sea-surface temperature anomalies from 1 to 7 June 2026, relative to the 1991–2020 average👉 https://lnkd.in/dpbZfcsP We use anomalies — the difference between current conditions and the long-term average — because El Niño often begins as a subtle shift away from what is “normal", and those early changes are easier to see against a reference pattern. Although the temperature differences may appear small, the ocean stores and exchanges enormous amounts of heat, so even slight warming can indicate very large changes in the energy flowing between the ocean and the atmosphere.🌊 El Niño occurs every few years when the trade winds weaken allowing warm water in the western Pacific Ocean to shift eastward, bringing with it changes in wind patterns and ocean dynamics. 🌬️This can have a significant impact on weather around the world, leading to changes in ecosystems and fisheries, droughts, floods and storms, amongst others. Satellites orbiting overhead are being used to carefully track the patterns that lead up to El Niño to further understand and predict the consequences of this cyclic phenomenon against the backdrop of climate change.🌍 Follow ESA Earth Observation for more 👍 Credits: ESA (data sources: CMEMS/ESA SST CCI) World Meteorological Organization UN Climate Change

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