El Niño expert Roland Pease discusses the impacts of El Niño on global weather patterns, including floods, droughts, fires, and altered weather patterns. Experts explain the science behind how El Niño affects different regions, such as causing rains in drought-ridden California and exacerbating fires in Indonesia. The podcast sheds light on the cyclical nature and challenges of predicting El Niño events, emphasizing the environmental and human impacts of these natural phenomena.
El Nino disrupts global weather systems periodically by altering air and oceanic circulation patterns.
El Nino exacerbates droughts in California and fires in Indonesia, highlighting the intersection of climate change and human impact.
Deep dives
Understanding El Nino: The Climate Anomaly's Impact on Weather Systems
El Nino, a periodic climate anomaly in the Pacific Ocean, disrupts local weather systems globally. Scientists predict its occurrence every two to seven years, but its intensity remains challenging to forecast accurately. The phenomenon alters normal air and oceanic circulation patterns, leading to warm waters in the central and eastern Pacific, thereby affecting weather systems far beyond the Pacific region.
Historical Context and Impacts of El Nino
El Nino events have been documented since the late 19th century, with profound impacts on global weather patterns. Named 'El Nino' or 'the boy' in Spanish, the phenomenon peaks around Christmas, affecting regions worldwide. From dry conditions in the tropics to disrupted monsoons and increased risk of drought in various countries, El Nino's consequences are widespread and far-reaching, including influences on hurricane seasons and the jet stream.
El Nino's Varied Effects: From California Droughts to Fires in Indonesia
El Nino's effects span from severe droughts in California to devastating fires in Indonesia, exacerbated by human activities like deforestation. In California, despite hopes for relief, the transition from drought to heavy rains poses risks of floods and mudslides. Indonesia's fires are amplified by the dried peat and endanger populations with toxic smoke, showcasing the intersection of climate change, El Nino, and human impact on the environment.
El Niño is releasing vast quantities of heat normally stored in the Pacific, causing floods, droughts and fires. Adam Rutherford discusses the latest with our El Niño expert Roland Pease.
This weather event arrives every 2-7 years but it's hard to work out how profound it will be. Back in May last year, the Met Office climate scientist Adam Scaife correctly predicted an El Niño. He returns to give an overview of this phenomenon.
How does an altered weather pattern in the Pacific end up altering the weather in Cumbria. Tim Stockdale at the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts and Richard Allan at Reading University explain the science behind the current events.
The rains are coming to drought-ridden California as a result of El Niño. Jack Stewart explains why this is not entirely a good thing.
Professor Sue Page from Leicester University and Professor Martin Wooster from KCL study the Indonesian fires exacerbated by an El Niño event. They describe the devastating effects of these fires. An estimated 15,000 death can be attributed to the previous El Niño burning and it has added 300 million tonnes of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere.
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