Hottest year awaits Bahrain due to El Nino, says WMO
This year will go down as Bahrain’s hottest year on record as temperatures in Bahrain skyrocketed in 2015. But, a bad news is waiting not only for Bahrainis, but also people around the world.
The World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), based in Geneva, yesterday said that 2016 could be hotter due to El Nino weather pattern, warning that inaction on climate change could see temperatures rise by 6 degrees Celsius or more.
Minister of Energy and Water Affairs Dr Abdulhussain Mirza informed the Cabinet last August that the demand for electricity for July and August went up by 9 per cent, compared to the same period last year as the people of Bahrain had a tough time to cope with the torrid days due to rise in temperature.
But WMO warned that next year might be even warmer as levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere had been rising to a new record every year for the past 30 years and El Niño was likely to continue into 2016.
“The year whose annual mean temperature is likely to be most strongly influenced by the current El Niño is 2016 rather than 2015,” the WMO said.
WMO Director-General Michel Jarraud, in a press conference, said that El Niño might be responsible for 16-20 per cent of the rise and longer-term averages showed temperatures were rising regardless of El Niño or its cooling counterpart La Niña.
Weather is hot and humid in Bahrain from June to October. Therefore, the prediction of WMO has raised alarm about Bahrain too as the Kingdom experienced tough weather this year.
The Kingdom experienced record-breaking temperatures in August, September and October.
Since records started in 1902, each of the three months has been listed as the hottest months in Bahrain.
El Nino has been described as a weather pattern marked by warming sea-surface temperatures in the Pacific Ocean, causing extremes such as scorching weather, droughts and flooding around the world.
PIC: MUHAMED THASLEEM
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