Return of El Niño phenomenon could push world over 1.5C mark next year, warns Irish expert

There is a 'reasonable chance' this year will be the warmest ever. File picture

There is a "reasonable chance" this year will be the warmest ever, but 2024 will "almost certainly be a new record" and may even cross the 1.5C mark, a leading climate change expert has said.

Maynooth University professor of geography climate change Peter Thorne said the expected return of the El Niño phenomenon would have a big bearing on whether the world would cross the 1.5C pre-industrial era warming threshold.