Dear Editor,
Superlatives and snazzy terms are all the rage in weather: supercells, bomb cyclones, the polar vortex, the dreaded ‘derecho’. Here’s a new one to me: a ‘Super El Niño’. This periodic phenomenon occurs due to a weakening of the east-west wind currents across the Pacific ocean, leading to a build-up of warmer waters near the Equator and subsequent disruptions to our typical weather patterns and the Jetstream. The ‘Super’ part indicates a larger and faster accumulating blob of warmer water than typical.
For those of us in the Midwest, typically we’ll have warmer/drier winters and in the southern US, cooler and wetter conditions. This is only part of the story, however. Effects are felt worldwide, from hotter and drier conditions causing drought and heat in Australia, India, and parts of central America including the Amazon; to increased rainfall raising risk of flood damage in the Middle East and central Asia. Typically, the hurricane season in the Atlantic is also supercharged.
The changes we have already wrought on our climate system factor in – the already-warmer-than-average sea surface temperatures and atmosphere add further fuel to this fire. Extreme weather events continue to defy naming conventions and have become so commonplace as to be the norm. Make no mistake however the conditions we’re creating for death and destruction are anything but normal.
Sincerely,
Nathan Dombeck,
Janesville, WI