La Niña Event Expected to Be Short-Lived, WMO Says After Third-Hottest February on Record

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has stated that the ongoing La Niña event is likely to be short-lived, predicting a 60% probability of its dissipation between March and May 2025, which increases to 70% for April to June. This announcement follows February 2025 being recorded as the third-hottest February in history.

La Niña’s Brief Impact Amidst Record Heat

La Niña, a cooling phenomenon in the central and east-central equatorial Pacific, typically occurs every three to five years and often follows El Niño, which has the opposite warming effect. The last El Niño was one of the five strongest on record, driving unprecedented global temperatures in 2023 and making 2024 the hottest year in history.

Despite La Niña's cooling influence, January 2025 was the hottest January ever recorded, indicating that human-induced climate change is overriding natural climate patterns.

The Role of Seasonal Forecasts

WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo emphasized the importance of seasonal climate predictions for disaster preparedness and economic planning.

“These forecasts translate into millions of dollars worth in economic savings for key sectors like agriculture, energy, and transport, and have saved thousands of lives over the years by enabling disaster risk preparedness,” she said.

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Climate Change’s Growing Influence

WMO also warned that El Niño and La Niña now occur within the broader context of human-driven climate change, leading to:

• Higher global temperatures.
• More frequent and extreme weather events.
• Unpredictable rainfall and temperature shifts.

Climatologist Zeke Hausfather noted that 2025’s temperature trends are defying expectations, stating that “January 2025 stands out as anomalous even by the standards of the last two years.”

As global temperatures continue to rise, experts stress that climate action must go beyond adapting to short-term weather cycles and focus on long-term sustainability.

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