Scientists have warned of the likely hood of scorching heat on the planet with the upcoming El Niño. Here’s everything you need to know for gearing up.
El Niño to soon knock on Earth’s door
An El Niño is assembling along the equator in the eastern Pacific Ocean. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), there is above average chance of it being very strong. The situation may have dramatic impacts both in the US and across the globe. Climate scientists are highly concerned about the possibility of hotter temperatures. Since the weather is already hotter than normal, they believe a strong El Niño could exuberate it.
“The most recent ocean temperature in the El Niño region, the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean, was just .1 degrees Celsius away from the threshold needed to declare,” stated Nat Johnson. Johnson is a researcher with NOAA’S Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory. According to him, the tropical atmosphere remains in neutral territory but the signs are growing stronger. This is providing scientists with enough data to declare the phenomenon by July. The chances of a strong wave are 55 percent.
More on the weather pattern
This is a climate pattern and the counterpart of La Niña that ended this winter. In El Niño – Southern Oscillation, the seawater surface temperatures in the eastern and central tropical Pacific oceans are warmer than the average. It was first recognized by fishermen off the South American coast with the presence of unusually warm waters. Since the end of La Niña, sea surface temperatures in the region have been warming compared to the long-term average.
“Global average ocean temperatures set a record high for April at 1.55 degrees Fahrenheit above the long-term average,” reflects NOAA’s recent summary. “The current record for global temperature occurred in 2016 and it’s no coincidence that followed the last big El Niño. If we get a big one at the end of this year then, we’re likely to break the record for global temperature in 2024,” explained Adam Scaife. Scaife is the head of long-range forecasting at the UK’s Met.