Super El Niño is Coming, and Nations Must Prepare

Get ready to hear much more about El Niño in the coming months — and possibly beyond — as the infamous climate cycle returns, developing and intensifying in the Pacific Ocean near the equator.

If it forms as expected, this El Niño could redraw global weather patterns, bringing flooding to some regions and drought and wildfires to others.

If it forms as expected, this El Niño could redraw global weather patterns, bringing flooding to some regions and drought and wildfires to others — all while temporarily accelerating the pace of global warming, as reported by Andrew Freedman for CNN.

There are increasing indications that an El Niño is not only imminent — likely setting in by late summer or early fall — but could also be a significant one.

It may even qualify as a “Super El Niño,” which would amplify impacts worldwide. Such extreme events are rare.

To officially declare an El Niño, ocean temperatures in a key region of the tropical Pacific must rise at least 0.5°C above the long-term average. A “Super El Niño,” by contrast, typically involves anomalies exceeding 2°C.

Some major forecasting systems, including those from European climate models, are projecting such an outcome.

El Niño and La Niña — Spanish for “the Boy” and “the Girl” — are recurring climate patterns in the tropical Pacific that occur every few years and can have profound global effects.

El Niño is characterized by unusually warm ocean waters along the equatorial Pacific, accompanied by shifts in atmospheric circulation, winds, and rainfall.

This coupled ocean-atmosphere phenomenon can trigger floods in some regions, drought in others, stronger winter storms along the U.S. West Coast, and increased global heat extremes.