El Niño is back and it's set to bring extreme weather and new temperature records

El Niño is back, and it could push the world past a new average temperature record.

The global weather phenomenon refers to when waters in the Pacific Ocean become much warmer than usual.

After three years of the cooling La Niña weather pattern, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced on Thursday that El Niño is now underway.

"El Niño is normally associated with record breaking temperatures at the global level. Whether this will happen in 2023 or 2024 is not yet known, but it is, I think, more likely than not," says Carlo Buontempo, director of the EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service.

The climatic event could have drastic effects from searing heatwaves to stronger storms.

Here’s how climate scientists predict El Niño will affect global temperatures, weather and marine life.

The El Niño climate event is responsible for raising global temperatures and aggravating extreme weather events.

It is caused by ocean temperatures and winds in the Pacific that oscillate between warming El Niño and cooling La Niña.

This year is already predicted to be hotter than 2022 and the fifth or sixth hottest year on record.

The effects of El Niño take months to be felt and may mean 2024 breaks temperature records.

The world's hottest year on record so far was 2016, coinciding with a strong El Niño - although climate change has fuelled extreme temperatures even in years without the phenomenon.

The last eight years were the world's eight hottest on record - reflecting the longer-term warming trend driven by greenhouse gas emissions.

El Niño pushes warm water in the Pacific Ocean eastwards, causing the Pacific jet stream to move south of its neutral position.

This produces dryer and warmer weather in northern US and intense