Thousands of dead tuna crabs line the shore at California's Laguna Beach after succumbing to the effects of warmer ocean temperatures. The mass die-off may have been caused by the El Nino phenomenon.
There is an 85 per cent chance that El Nino, a warming of the equatorial Pacific Ocean and a change in the atmosphere above the ocean, will persist into January and beyond, the US Climate Prediction Centre has said.
The weather pattern poses a risk to the global economy in the second half of the year as it may hurt crops and boost world food inflation, Citigroup said in a report on Tuesday.