El Niño Could Bring Extreme Weather, Fewer Anchovies
Conditions are right for a strong El Niño this year, and scientists are predicting a wide range of effects.
It looks like we’re in for a strong, lengthy El Niño this year.
Warmer-than-usual water in parts of the Pacific Ocean indicates that a developing El Niño is intensifying and might become one of the strongest on record. And National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration scientists think the weather phenomenon probably will continue through the winter of 2015-16, and into the spring of 2016.
El Niños have been occurring at least since the end of the last Ice Age about 10,000 years ago. But scientists have only been able to effectively monitor the events since the advent of weather satellites. In that time, there have only been two strong El Niños—one in 1982-83 and another in 1997-98.
Given the lack of past data,
