Latest El Niño-Southern Oscillation Stories
While it's still hotly debated among scientists whether climate change causes a shift from the traditional form of El Nino to one known as El Nino Modoki, online in the journal Nature Geoscience, scientists now say that El Nino Modoki affects long-term changes in currents in the North Pacific Ocean.El Nino is a periodic warming in the eastern tropical Pacific that occurs along the coast of South America. Recently, scientists have noticed that El Nino warming is stronger in the Central Pacific...
The U.N. weather agency said on Monday that the disruptive La Nina weather pattern in the Pacific basin should strengthen over the next four to six months, bringing on stronger monsoons and more hurricanes. Rupa Kumar, World Meteorological Organization climate services chief, said a "moderate to strong" La Nina was now well established. Kumar Kolli told reporters that forecasts showed "rather a strengthening of this La Nina episode for the next four to six months."La Nina...
Year-long study suggests local Chinese officials and 'green' paper company flouted farmers' rights in plan for 120,000-hectare plantationA new study released today in Washington, DC and Beijing suggests that one of the world's largest and "greenest" paper companies, in concert with local officials and other middlemen, used illegal means to gain control over thousands of hectares of Chinese forestlands, with a goal of acquiring 120 thousand hectares for a eucalyptus plantation in the...
The active hurricane season could get even busier due to the strengthening of the La Nina climate system, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said in an update on Thursday. The update comes as Texas residents are cleaning up from the flooding rains that swept through from Tropical Storm Hermine. La Nina was reported to be developing a month ago and has strengthened throughout August. It appears likely to last through early 2011, NOAA's Climate Prediction Service said....
DEERFIELD, Ill., Sept. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- While many climate experts and environmentalists explore the negative effects of global warming, a new study reveals a positive outcome of the warming of the planet: the potential elimination of the plague. Global warming affects temperatures and precipitation regimes that play a pivotal role in the lives of rodents and fleas; rodents and fleas are responsible for maintenance and spread of plague to human populations. Plague can be fatal if the...
BETHESDA, Md., Aug. 23 /PRNewswire/ -- The Commodity Weather Group, LLC (CWG) released its latest winter 2010-11 outlook for its energy clients this morning, and it tells a notably different story from last winter. The core heating season in the U.S. is forecast to be 29% warmer year-on-year from December through February. As a result, CWG is now forecasting the warmest winter since 2006-07. Energy demand should run lower than normal for key population centers on the East Coast, through...
UN climate and weather agencies said Wednesday that climate scientists must take an urgent stance on studying the changes in atmospheric currents that have been linked to flooding in Pakistan and wildfires in Russia.Ghassem Asrar, director of the World Climate Research Program, told AFP that changes -- known as blocking episodes -- in the currents can prevent humidity or hot weather from dispersing as it should.Those events can lock heavy rain or heat waves over a particular region, in turn...
It's hot out right now, but new research from North Carolina State University will help us know what to expect when the weather turns cold. Researchers have developed a new methodology that improves the accuracy of winter precipitation and temperature forecasts. The tool should be valuable for government and utility officials, since it provides key information for use in predicting energy consumption and water availability."Predicting winter precipitation is extremely useful, because winter...
The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced Thursday that last month was the hottest June ever recorded on Earth. According to NOAA's National Climatic Data Center, the combined global land and ocean surface temperature data also showed that the January-June and April-June periods were the warmest on record, which go back as far as 1880. The combined average for global land and ocean temperatures in June was 61.1 degrees Fahrenheit, which are 1.22 degrees...
La Nina is likely to cool the tropical Pacific waters in the months ahead, causing stronger monsoons throughout Asia and eastern Australia, according to an update released Tuesday by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).These conditions are also likely to promote the development of storms in the tropical Atlantic."Below average sea temperatures exist beneath the surface of the central and eastern equatorial Pacific, and forecast models continue to predict further decreases in the...
Latest El Niño-Southern Oscillation Reference Libraries
If you live in or around Billings, Montana the above graph shows you what you can roughly expect when it comes to heating and cooling your house during the ENSO Phases. In Billings during a normal phase of the ENSO your heating degree days pass 900HDD. However, when El-Nino phase is present the monthly average dropped to around 650.5HDD, which is a pretty significant amount especially when you are talking about paying that heating bill. When the La-Nina phase sets up the heating degree...
ENSO has an impact on the severe weather across the United States. As we look at the above graph we see that the area of Baltimore is impacted by ENSO and its tornado count. The stats are for the described years to the left of each bar. During a La-Nina the tornado count picks up for the region; within 50 miles of the city up to 9 tornadoes occurred during the 2000 event. The 2010 EL-Nino set into the region and the tornado count dropped to around 4 tornadoes within 50 miles of the...
If you live in or around Bismarck North Dakota the graph shows you what you can roughly expect when it comes to heating and cooling your house during the ENSO Phases. Bismarck North Dakota, with its northern latitude, does have an impact on what type of heating and cooling it sees. During an Normal Phase the HDD for the region hits about 1348 on average. When the region enters into an El-Nino they can expect the amount of HDD’s to decrease to around 970 which really helps cut down on the...
The above graph highlights how the ENSO has an impact on water temps. Northern Gulf of Mexico during EL-Nino: The first part of March during this EL-Nino cycle saw water temps in the 56-60F range, while the 8-14th saw water temps warm to the 60-64F range. By the third week of March temps had maintained 60-64F. The last week of March the temps dropped back to around 56-60F. Northern Gulf of Mexico during LA-Nina: The first week of March saw water temps approach the 70-72F range, by the...
When it comes to wind, more and more people are turning to it as alternative option for electricity. One has to wonder what kind of impacts would be created by the different cycles of ENSO. The above graph has been done for Boston MA. The month of choice was to run it for March of all three cycles. Normal Cycle: (When we are in between EL-Nino and La-Nina) winds averaged around 0-5mph 9% of the month of March. While 6-10mph average winds occurred more often with 35%. And then winds in the...
