The combination of global warming and the natural phenomenon El Niño could lead to natural disasters for which climatologists are not yet prepared, Gizmodo reports. The website infohub.kz reports on the scientists' serious concern.
Experts note that ongoing climate changes are disrupting familiar global connections. Whereas El Niño used to produce predictable conditions in different regions of the planet, the old patterns have now stopped working. Climatologist Eran Vos of Bar-Ilan University emphasized that in today's reality, old models no longer apply: due to global warming, historical climate chains are breaking down or inverting, creating new uncertainties.
Researchers analyzed meteorological data from recent decades and identified unusual phenomena. In particular, areas in South Asia and Northeast Africa, where warming was recorded during El Niño between 1960 and 1990, are now experiencing anomalous cooling. Meanwhile, in Western Europe, previous cold waves have been replaced by periods of significant temperature increases.
The situation is further complicated by the fact that the current El Niño formed in the eastern Pacific Ocean rather than in the central Pacific, as has been the case in recent decades. Clara Deser, a senior scientist at the U.S. National Center for Atmospheric Research, noted that past experience can no longer serve as a reliable guide, since the planet has already shifted to an entirely new baseline climate.