WMO warns of rising El Nino risk, urges preparedness

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) warned Tuesday of an 80 percent chance that an El Nino event will develop between June and August, raising the risk of extreme weather in the coming months. Wilfran Moufouma Okia, chief of climate prediction at WMO, told that countries should prepare for possible extremes while stressing that information on climate-related disasters should not incite panic.

Wilfran Moufouma Okia, Chief of Climate Prediction, WMO said "The classification of El Nino, whether it's strong or moderate, is not what really matters, because El Nino will have consequences whenever it happens. So, we provide the information El Nino is establishing and then we hope that information will serve to prepare for answering against that threat." 

El Nino is a natural climate phenomenon marked by persistently warmer-than-average sea surface temperatures in the equatorial Pacific, which affects weather and climate patterns worldwide.