El Nino breaks Pacific temperature record as weather pattern intensifies

An aerial view of small islands off the coast of Koror, the capital of Palau, scattered across the turquoise waters of the Pacific Ocean. © Saeed Khan, AFP

An intensifying El Nino pushed sea surface temperatures in a key Pacific monitoring region to a record 29.70C in September, the EU’s Copernicus climate service said Monday. Forecasters expect the weather pattern, which raises drought and flood risks and exacerbates global warming, to become the strongest ever recorded this year.

An intensifying El Nino broke a temperature record in a key zone of the Pacific in September, the EU's climate monitor said Monday, in another sign the weather pattern is gaining exceptional strength.