El Niño has officially begun and threatens record global heat, US scientists say
Forecasters say there is a 63% chance the event reaches very strong levels by winter, raising the odds of global heat and extreme weather.
- On June 11, federal forecasters at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration officially declared that an El Niño event is underway in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean, marking a long-anticipated global climate shift.
- An El Niño pattern emerges when tropical trade winds weaken, allowing warmer-than-normal ocean temperatures to build in the eastern Pacific; NOAA data shows current water temperatures averaging 0.7 degrees Celsius warmer than normal, signaling a weak event is currently underway.
- Climate Prediction Center forecasters anticipate this event will strengthen significantly by fall, with a 63% chance of becoming "very strong" during the upcoming winter; only seven such events exist in the record since 1950.
- While El Niño often brings wetter conditions to the Southeast and Southern California, it also poses risks including potential wildfire danger in Hawaii and prolonged drought across the Northwest, northern Plains, and Upper Midwest.
- Despite concerns, climate center researcher Michelle L'Heureux noted potential benefits including a likely reduction in Atlantic hurricane activity and lower heating bills for the northern United States, with this cycle providing six months of planning advance notice.
134 Articles
134 Articles
El Niño is here, what's in store for Santa Barbara?
Santa Barbara is likely looking at a warm and rainy winter this year, as the National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has issued an El Niño advisory—warning it could be one of the strongest ever. Every 2-7 years Santa Barbara County experiences what is known as an El Niño year, when hotter than normal sea surface temperatures in the Equatorial Pacific drive atmospheric changes that impact many areas of the world. Here in Santa Barba…
El Nino returns and could become one of the strongest on record
Meteorologists confirmed the arrival of El Nino in the Pacific Ocean on Thursday, warning the climate pattern could grow into one of the strongest on record. Experts say it is likely to amplify global heat and fuel extreme weather, including floods, droughts, wildfires and powerful storms, over the coming months.
The U.S. weather agency has confirmed that the El Niño phenomenon has begun, and it is predicted to intensify towards the end of the year, leading to hotter temperatures and more extreme weather events.
The terrible child of the climate has already begun, according to an update by the American agency NOAA on Thursday. It will reach its peak at the end of the year. For what impacts across the planet? We are taking stock. - From America to Oceania: how El Niño affects the different regions of the world (Environment).
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