Climate variability and change

Minimal snowfall, high temperatures, early blooms and a winter that didn't feel like winter are perhaps the most worrying consequences of climate change. What are their effects?

The rapid return of the La Nina weather phenomenon "may actually decrease" the risk that 2024 smashes last year's record heat, Europe's climate monitor told AFP, amid enduring historic global temperatures.

The warming El Nino weather phenomenon that peaked in December was one of the five strongest ever recorded, the United Nations said Tuesday, predicting that it would produce above-normal temperatures from now to May.

Climate change is effectively reducing the year's seasons to two, according to the head of the Greek Meteorological Society.

"We have observed the expansion of summer into the fall, while winter - especially the winter of 2023 - is showing higher temperatures, mainly because of climate change," Panagiotis Nastos told the Athens-Macedonian News Agency.

The Mediterranean region, an indispensable destination for summer vacations with its sea, sand and sun trio, may soon be dethroned by the Black Sea region known for its cool plateaus and mild weather.

The year 2023 marked the hottest year on record. However, experts warn that the effects of climate change will become stronger in the coming years.

In 2023, the world's oceans took up an enormous amount of excess heat, enough to "boil away billions of Olympic-sized swimming pools," according to an annual report published Thursday.

Following the El Nino phenomenon that caused sweltering heat and record high temperatures globally, climate scientist Levent Kurnaz has warned of an even hotter summer in 2024 as the sun is reaching the peak of its activity, known as "solar maximum."

Torrential rains witnessed lately have brought a sigh of relief for Istanbul, whose dams were at the risk of drying up due to the scorching heat during summer fueled by the El Nino phenomenon, as the filling rates in Istanbul dams are on the rise.

Almost the entire world's population experienced warmer temperatures from June to August as a result of human-induced climate change, according to a research report published late on Thursday and cited by Reuters.

With the rising impact of global warming and climate change, the Black Sea region will experience increased evaporation that would potentially surpass precipitation in less than a decade, affecting the region's unique agricultural production, an expert has warned.