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BBC HomepageSkip to contentAccessibility HelpYour accountNotificationsHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeMore menuMore menuSearch BBCHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeCBBCCBeebiesFoodClose menuBBC NewsMenuHomeIsrael-Gaza warCost of LivingWar in UkraineClimateUKWorldBusinessPoliticsCultureMoreTechScienceHealthFamily & EducationIn PicturesNewsbeatBBC VerifyDisabilityScience & EnvironmentClimate change: El Niño ends with uncertainty over cooler futurePublished36 minutes agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingRelated TopicsClimateImage source, Getty ImagesBy Matt McGrathEnvironment correspondentThe powerful El Niño weather event which along with climate change has helped push global temperatures to new highs, has ended, say scientists.The Australian Bureau of Meteorology says the Pacific Ocean has “cooled substantially” in the past week.This naturally occurring episode that began last June brought warmer waters to the surface of the Pacific, adding extra heat to the atmosphere.But what happens next is uncertain, say researchers.A string of recent global monthly high temperature records has led some scientists to fear that the world could be tipping into a new phase of even faster climate change.Scientists say that the months after the end of El Niño will give a strong indication as to whether the recent high temperatures are due to accelerated climate change or not.What is El Niño and how does it change the weather?World’s coral turns white from deadly ocean heatUK food production at threat after extreme floodingEvery few years, the onset of El Niño brings dramatic change to weather in many parts of the world. The surge of warmer water that comes to the surface off the coast of Peru in South America is linked to increased droughts and floods in different parts of the world.The full name of the pattern is the El Niño-Southern Oscillation or ENSO. It’s marked by three different phases, the hot El Niño, neutral conditions or a cooler period called La Niña. This current El Niño was declared last June, and reached a peak in December. The resulting warmer water in the Pacific has helped push global average temperatures to new highs, with March making it ten months in a row to break the record for that period. But now, perhaps quicker than expected, El Niño is gone.The critical question is what happens next and on this scientists are divided. US researchers recently said there was 60% chance of a La Niña developing between June-August, and an 85% chance of this happening by Autumn.But the Australian Bureau say such statements such be treated with caution. They expect neutral conditions to last until at least July. They point to the current hot state of the global oceans which they believe is affecting ENSO. “As the current global ocean conditions have not been observed before, inferences as to how ENSO may develop in 2024 that are based on past events may not be reliable,” they said in a statement. Whether or not a La Niña forms really matters, say researchers. It can have a significant impact on storms and hurricanes, with some experts predicting that if La Niña does arrive, it would herald a highly active hurricane season in the Atlantic.La Niña’s cooling effect may also slightly slow the rate of global heating. That might indicate that the record temperatures experienced over the past year were something of a mystery, and not evidence that the world has moved into a more rapid phase of warming.Related TopicsIntergovernmental Panel on Climate ChangeEl NiñoParis climate agreementClimateTop StoriesMuslim student loses school prayer ban challengePublished57 minutes agoLive. 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[ad_1] The natural event that adds to global warming has ended but scientists are unsure of what comes next.
![BBC HomepageSkip to contentAccessibility HelpYour accountNotificationsHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeMore menuMore menuSearch BBCHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeCBBCCBeebiesFoodClose menuBBC NewsMenuHomeIsrael-Gaza warCost of LivingWar in UkraineClimateUKWorldBusinessPoliticsCultureMoreTechScienceHealthFamily & EducationIn PicturesNewsbeatBBC VerifyDisabilityBusinessMarket DataEconomyYour MoneyCompaniesTechnology of BusinessCEO SecretsArtificial IntelligenceSam Bankman-Fried: Disgraced ‘Crypto King’ to be sentencedPublished1 hour agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingImage source, Getty Images/BloombergBy Natalie ShermanBusiness reporter, New YorkSam Bankman-Fried, the former billionaire crypto boss who was convicted of fraud and money laundering last year, will return to court in New York on Thursday to be sentenced for his crimes.It is certain the 32-year-old will be going to jail; what is not known is how long for.The moment has revived debate about the extent of his crimes – and what punishment might fit. His legal team have called for leniency, but prosecutors are seeking 40 to 50 years in prison.They say such a sentence is warranted for someone who lied to investors and banks, and stole billions in deposits from customers of his now-bankrupt crypto exchange, FTX.His defence team has proposed five to 6.5 years, accusing the government of adopting “a medieval view of punishment” by insisting on a lengthy term behind bars for a non-violent, first-time criminal.The question has generated hundreds of pages of letters from former FTX customers, family, friends of his parents – even complete strangers – trying to sway Judge Lewis Kaplan, the federal justice who will decide his fate.”He has shown no remorse so why would any judge show any mercy?” said Sunil Kavuri, a British investor who had more than $2m worth of holdings on the exchange when it collapsed, and one of the people mobilising former customers to share their experience with the court. Image caption, Sunil Kavuri faces a long and uncertain wait to retrieve any of his investmentFTX’s collapse in 2022 was a stunning fall for Bankman-Fried, who had become a billionaire and business celebrity promoting the firm, a platform people could use to deposit and trade crypto.It attracted millions of customers, before rumours of financial trouble sparked a run on deposits. In November 2023, a US jury found Bankman-Fried had stolen billions in customer money from the exchange ahead of the collapse to buy property, make political donations and use for other investments.Many of those customers now appear poised to recover significant sums, under a plan being developed in the separate bankruptcy case.Under that proposal, former customers could receive money based on what their holdings were worth at the time the exchange collapsed.In court filings, the defence for Bankman-Fried, who is expected to appeal his conviction, has argued that such recovery warrants a lighter sentence. They said it proved that “money has always been available” which “would be impossible if [FTX’s] assets had disappeared into Sam’s personal pockets”. But the repayment plan has left many former customers outraged, since they will miss out on the crypto rebound that has occurred since. John Ray, the lawyer leading FTX through bankruptcy and a critic of Bankman-Fried, noted the concerns in his own letter to court.”Make no mistake; customers, non-governmental creditors, governmental creditors, and non-insider stockholders have suffered and continue to suffer,” he wrote to the court, arguing that the claims of minimal loss were a sign that Bankman-Fried continued to live “a life of delusion”. Former FTX customers interviewed by the BBC said they were offended by the blithe dismissal of their problems, and urged the judge to reject calls for leniency.”The people who are saying this are not in a position like I’m in, where you’ve lost everything,” said Arush Sehgal, a 38-year-old tech entrepreneur living in Barcelona, who, with his wife, is one of the exchange’s biggest individual creditors, with about $4m worth in savings in dollars and bitcoin at FTX when it collapsed. Image source, Arush SehgalHe is one of the customers suing over the current bankruptcy plan, which he said amounted to a “second crime” against Bankman-Fried’s customers. Angela Chang, of Vancouver, a 36-year-old who worked in software, said she had about $250,000 deposited in dollars with FTX when it collapsed. She said she feared the harm done to FTX customers was being discounted because they were in the crypto industry.”People think that crypto is criminal and so they have sympathy for this guy …. But I’m not a criminal,” she said, describing how the fall of the firm threw her into depression and left her running up credit card debt. Facing a cash crunch, she ultimately sold a portion of a claim to an investor.Columbia Law professor Daniel Richman said the scale of the crime was rarely as contested as in this case.But he said decisions are often shaped more by other issues, including a judge’s own impressions of the defendant, and what it would take to deter him from further crimes. In this case, Judge Kaplan, a veteran of the court system who has presided over a slew of high profile trials involving public figures such as Donald Trump and actor Kevin Spacey, has already proven to be sceptical of Bankman-Fried’s actions, revoking his bail last year after finding he was trying to intimidate other witnesses. “Any judge or lawyer will tell you that one of the best things the defendant can do before being sentences is really really show he’s on the right path, show some remorse and show some degree of self-knowledge as to his offence,” Prof Richman said. “Here you not only have a defendant who went to trial but you have one who really, at least the judge believed, was obstructive prior to trial,” he said, adding that it would be “really surprising” for Judge Kaplan to render a sentence anything like the defence request. FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried believed in ‘effective altruism’. What is it?Convicted ‘Crypto King’ faces decades in jailEveryone got duped by Sam Bankman-Fried’s big gambleSince the 1980s, the US has significantly increased the length of its official recommendations for jail time for white collar criminals.Though judges frequently depart from the guidelines, introducing wide variability, “the risk of harshness is greater than in most countries” – particularly for high-profile cases, Prof Richman said.In her own appeal to the judge, Barbara Fried, Bankman-Fried’s mother and a former law professor, noted the “punitive nature” of the US justice system “which makes us an extreme outlier among democracies”. “I have no illusions about the redemptive power of prisons,” she wrote. “Being consigned to prison for decades will destroy Sam as surely as would hanging him.”Related TopicsInternational BusinessCryptocurrencyMore on this storyEveryone got duped by Sam Bankman-Fried’s big gamblePublished3 November 2023Convicted ‘Crypto King’ faces decades in jailPublished3 November 2023Top StoriesDivers recover bodies in Baltimore bridge collapse watersPublished2 hours agoGirl, 10, left inoperable after surgery axed seven timesPublished7 hours agoKing sends ‘hand of friendship’ recorded messagePublished3 hours agoFeaturesThe Papers: Sewage ‘outrage’ and ‘King calls for kindness’ The families borrowing to pay for careFather of three among Baltimore bridge victimsUS guns pour into Haiti, fuelling surge in violenceLost IRA film shows planting and detonation of bombWhy some Tory MPs are stepping downI’m not ashamed of who I am any more, says LionessAfter Moscow attack, migrants from Central Asia hit by backlashWhy is sewage released into rivers and the sea?Elsewhere on the BBCNew lives, new loves and new merciless enemiesSuperman and Lois Lane face one of their biggest challenges… raising two teenage boysAttributioniPlayerThe powerful emotional impact of Pink Floyd’s musicShine On You Crazy Diamond has helped people through their hardest timesAttributionSoundsRadiohead meets Sons of Kemet in this alt-rock supergroupSee The Smile on the 6 Music Festival stageAttributioniPlayerA daughters mysterious disappearanceJoan Lawrence shares how she found out her daughter had disappeared in the run up to Mother’s DayAttributionSoundsMost Read1Gogglebox star, 40, dies after fall from height2Man seriously injured after stabbing on London train3Pupil behaviour getting worse, say teachers4King sends ‘hand of friendship’ recorded message5Girl, 10, left inoperable after surgery axed seven times6Son ‘numb’ as whole-life killer may be released7Sewage ‘outrage’ and ‘King calls for kindness’8France to sue teen over headscarf row claim9Police reassess decision on Rayner allegations10Disgraced ‘Crypto King’ Bankman-Fried to be sentenced](https://newsinsightplus.com/wp-content/uploads/https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/branded_news/38FE/production/_133009541_gettyimages-1258710788.jpg)
