In light of this particularly hot summer, let's take some time to understand an important weather system that affects global temperatures, food security, and economies

Take urgent stock of the impact of El Nino on our agriculture

Across the world, in the Pacific Ocean, we are seeing the beginning of a new El Nino year, which means that we have to expect significantly higher temperatures globally – not just for one year, but for several years to come.

Last week, the world witnessed the hottest day in modern history, with the global temperature average rising to a record 17.23 degrees Celsius.

Although exceptional, the warm January temperatures are a stark reminder that, despite all the rhetoric about pivoting to green sources of energy like solar and wind, climate change is taking a turn for the worse because global GHG emissions are not showing any signs of a downward trend.

This year's monstrous El Nino, nicknamed Godzilla by NASA, is dead.

El Niño and ongoing climate change have both contributed to the devastating Alberta wildfires according to experts.

Recession-wracked Venezuela is to ration electricity in 10 of its most populous and industrialized states, including metropolitan Caracas, the socialist government says.

Evidence that Australia's Great Barrier Reef is experiencing its worst coral bleaching on record has renewed calls for the UN to list it as "in-danger".

Last year wasn't just the Earth's hottest year on record — it left a century of high temperature marks in the dust.

Last year was the second hottest on record in the contiguous United States, and included 10 major weather and climate events, such as droughts and storms, that each led to over $1 billion in damages, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said on Thursday.

Temperatures at the North Pole rises above freezing point, 20 degrees Celsius above the mid-winter norm and the latest abnormality in a season of extreme weather events.

The US space agency Nasa has warned that the effects of the current El Nino weather phenomenon could be as bad as those of 1998, the strongest on record.

Vast areas in Paraguay, Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil is being hit by the worst flooding in 50 years, forcing the evacuation of more than 150,000 people.

Temperatures across the globe are likely to break records in 2015 with readings running "well above" any previous year, scientists say.

Corals worldwide are at risk from a major episode of bleaching which turns reefs white, scientists have confirmed.