El Niño settles in: Why we may see more extreme temperatures

by: Julia Shapero, The Hill

(The Hill) — As El Niño conditions settle in — with a more than 90 percent chance of lasting through this winter and into next year — the globe may feel the heat.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Climate Prediction Center officially declared the arrival of El Niño, a climate phenomenon marked by warmer sea temperatures, in early June. 
El Niño increases the likelihood of record-breaking temperatures and triggering more extreme heat, Petteri Taalas, the secretary general of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), said in a press release earlier this month. 
The globe has already been seeing intense heat, breaking the unofficial record for the hottest day in 120,000 years three times last week. 
Last Thursday’s worldwide average temperature marked a new high of 63.01 degrees Fahrenheit, surpassing the records set in the preceding days, according to the University of Maine’s Climate Change Institute.