The Weather Forecast: This Year Expected to Set Record Highs- Vol.2
“An Unusual super El Niño”
In part one, we learned that the frequent occurrences of El Niño and La Niña phenomena are triggering extreme weather events around the world. The stronger the El Niño, the greater its impact on global weather. This intense form of El Niño is referred to as “Super El Niño”
This year, the effects of El Niño have caused a warmer winter with less snow than usual in the northern United States. December was record-warm in several states and January generally had mild temperatures with little snow. Meanwhile in the southern United States, El Niño influenced jet streams that brought severe storms. California experienced record heavy rains due to an “atmospheric river” leading to successive landslides.
Northern Chile has seen reduced rainfall leading to severe droughts and extreme Mostly I needed weather conditions, recently triggering large wildfires. Such extreme weather events are occurring in South America, Africa, Australia, and Asia.
The extreme weather events caused by these phenomena can largely be categorized into two scenarios: droughts and heavy rains. For instance, the last La Niña phenomenon caused severe flooding in Pakistan. This flooding was due to unusual monsoon rains, affecting millions. That caused many to lose their homes, and extensively damaged infrastructure. It was a major natural disaster that required international aid.
Celeste Sauro, the director-general of the WMO (World Meteorological organization) explained that since June 2023, monthly temperatures have been breaking records each month. That made 2023 the hottest year on record. While El Niño has contributed to these record temperatures it is clear that greenhouse gasses are the primary cause.
I wish that more people could pollute less, so there wouldn’t be so much climate change, El Niño, and La Niña.
With each disaster, it is often said that nature is frightening. But is that really the case? Are we humans not the ones making nature unnatural?