El Nino

Forecasters say the warming climate pattern El Niño is officially over. Its cooling counterpart, La Niña, could develop as soon as July — just in time to exacerbate an above-average hurricane season.

El Niño helped drive global average temperatures to new records over the last year. Forecasters say it's waning, but that 2024 may still be one for the record books.

For the 10th consecutive month, Earth set a new monthly record for global heat — with both air temperatures and the world's oceans hitting an all-time high, the European Union climate agency said.

Most of the country is predicted to be warmer than normal with that warmth stretching north from Tennessee, Missouri, Nebraska and Nevada, along with nearly all of California, say federal forecasters.

El Niño is warming up the water in the Pacific Ocean. That extra heat affects the whole planet, and has helped drive record-breaking hot weather.

Scientists say worsening heat waves have a clear link to climate change. This year, a seasonal El Niño pattern will also be adding fuel to the fire.

The cooling in the Pacific Ocean has gone on for three years. Its end is usually good news for the U.S. and other parts of the world, including drought-stricken northeast Africa, scientists said.

The latest estimate from various forecast centers around the world say the planet is approaching a warming threshold international agreements are trying to prevent.

They died 500 years ago in what may be the world's largest sacrificial killing of children, reported National Geographic.