A new statistical analysis of the interaction between El Niño and rising global temperatures due to climate change concludes that the approaching summer in the tropics has nearly a 7 in 10 chance of breaking records for temperature and humidity.
The prediction, by climate scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, applies to a broad swath of the world straddling the equator, including India and the bulk of Africa, Central and South America and Australia, but also includes Florida and Texas.
Long-term predictions like this can help regions prepare for extreme heat events and protect humans, livestock and crops, said William Boos, a UC Berkeley professor of earth and planetary science and an author of the study, which was led by UC Berkeley Miller Postdoctoral Fellow Yi Zhang.